FRIDAY FEBRUARY 11, 2011 people 11 briefly American’s lifelong love of Korean music Merck exec gets POSTECH honorary Ph.D. Peter S. Kim, 53, president of Merck Alan Heyman donates his collection of musical treasures to National Gugak Center Research Laboratories, will become an honorary doctor of science at Pohang By Hamish Boland-Rudder thored and translated a number University of Science and Technology. Intern reporter of books on gugak, Buddhist POSTECH said Wednesday that it rituals and Shaman rituals, and would award an honorary doctoral de- Most American musicians spent time teaching English at gree in science to Kim during the gradu- nominate the guitar, piano or universities to support himself. ation ceremony Friday. He will be the drums as their favorite instru- “Korean music and dance third honorary doctorate of science at ment. have been my life. That’s essen- the university. But 79-year-old Alan Hey- tially what I have been living The second-generation Korean-Amer- man much prefers Korean coni- for,” said Heyman. “The problem ican earned his B.A. at Cornell Univer- cal oboes and the 12-stringed is that it’s not very remunera- sity in 1979 and Ph.D. at Stanford Uni- Peter S. Kim Korean gayageum, and has tive, I don’t make much money.” versity in 1985. He served as a member dedicated his life to learning all Although his life of music of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research from 1992 to there is to know about tradi- hasn’t led to international pop 2001. He served as a biology professor at MIT from 1988 to 2001. tional Korean music and dance. fame, Heyman’s knowledge of He has published more than 25 articles in Nature, Science After more than 50 years of “pansori,” traditional Korean and other journals, and gained international recognition for his living in Korea and pursuing musical theatre, did help him 1997 research on the AIDS virus mechanism. his passion for “gugak,” tradi- obtain Korean citizenship in POSTECH first conferred an honorary science Ph.D. to the tional Korean music and dance, 1995. 2003 Nobel chemistry prize winner Roderick MacKinnon of The Heyman decided late last year After being one of only two Rockefeller University in 2006 and an honorary engineering to donate his collection of old students to pass the written ex- Ph.D. to Bell Labs President Kim Jeong-hoon in 2010. recorded music and rare books amination, Heyman was asked ([email protected]) to the National Gugak Center by the examiner in the oral test in Seoul as a way of preserving what he had been doing for the Yoo 1st Korean-American U.S. general the music and encouraging fur- past 30 years in Korea. ther study. “I said I’d been studying Ko- Daniel D. Yoo, a Korean-American The collection included about rean music and dance. He said Marine Corps Colonel, has been nomi- 160 hours of recorded music on ‘Did you study pansori?’ and I nated for appointment to the rank of reel tapes which the National said that I did. So he said ‘Tell brigadier general. Gugak Center is now transfer- me the story of Heungbu and According to a U.S. Department of ring to CDs for better storage. Nolbu’ which I happened to Defense press release Wednesday, Yoo Some of the recordings are rare know quite well, and I told the has been nominated as one of the 12 and had not been heard before. story completely and he said ‘You colonels for brigadier general. He is cur- Heyman also donated 20 pass.’ So Korean music paid off rently serving on the military fellows old books on traditional Asian quite well!” council on foreign relations in Garden music dating as far back as In recent years, Heyman has City, New York. the 17th century, which he had focused on deepening his un- The U.S. rank of brigadier general is bought from secondhand book- derstanding of Korean music ratified by the federal assembly and the stores while living in Insa-dong, Alan Heyman still enjoys playing his through reading and translat- U.S. president takes charge of the final Daniel D. Yoo Seoul, in the 1960s. 12-string gayageum, which is carved out ing. He hopes a translation of a appointment. “All those books were written of a single piece of paulownia wood and book on Korean Shamanism he Yoo graduated from Arizona State University, earned his in Chinese letters, my knowl- is nearly 50 years old. worked on will be released this master’s at U.S. Naval War College and served as a former na- edge of which is quite minimal,” year, and plans to begin work tional security affairs fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, said Heyman. “So I donated the on a history of the Korean Na- Revolution and Peace at Stanford University. books to the National Gugak over loudspeakers, using a house in Insadong, Seoul, in non-Korean to perform tradi- tional Folk Arts Festival soon. He has also served as a career infantry officer and most re- Center so they could explain conical oboe, gongs, drums. And 1960 to study and teach at the tional music on stage in Korea “The Korean National Folk cently as a commander of 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Di- in Korean what the books con- when I heard the conical oboe, Korean Traditional Musical in 1962, Heyman’s confidence Arts Festival celebrated its vision at Camp Schwab in Okinawa, Japan. He was deployed in tained, what the meaning was, to me it sounded very refresh- Arts Conservatory. grew along with his name. 50th year last year, and I have support of Operation Enduring Freedom as commander of the and why it is significant.” ing and interesting. I believe it “At that time Northwest Air- “No foreigner had ever per- been following it by doing video Regional Corps Advisory Command Central 3-7, 201st Corps, Heyman’s first taste of tra- was a Chinese instrument, but lines ran one flight a week. And formed before, I was the first recordings and small audio re- Afghan National Army from July 2009 to April 2010, and re- ditional Korean music was in similar to Korean. I think, as I recall, I was the one. And the audience was flab- cordings,” he said. “But there ceived a bronze star last July. 1953 as a medic in the U.S. “The other American soldiers only passenger on that plane,” bergasted. They couldn’t believe has never been a comprehen- Yoo’s expertise is in national security, military strategy, spe- Army during the Korean War. didn’t appreciate being kept he said. “I didn’t know if I that they were seeing a foreign- sive, 50-year, historical transla- cial operations, irregular warfare and homeland defense. Stationed with a MASH unit awake half the night by that loud would be successful or not, but er perform Korean music.” tion of the festival, so that’s my ([email protected]) in Gangwon province, near the music. But I always recall espe- I decided to give it a try. My Heyman went on to organize plan if things work out well. 38th parallel, Heyman “had cially that conical oboe sound.” mother and father were ada- the first ever tour of the United But as you know, 50 years of a front row seat” in what he Heyman returned home after mant, they said ‘Don’t be ridicu- States by traditional Korean translation is a big job. It’ll be describes as “one of the coldest the war to complete a master’s in lous, you’re out of your mind!’” musicians and dancers in 1964, my opus magnum.” places in Korea.” music and music education at Co- During his first three months and has since toured with dif- Heyman still enjoys playing “We were located next to a lumbia University in New York, of adjusting to life in Seoul, and ferent troupes in a variety of the gayageum occasionally, and mountain, and on the mountain but was disappointed to find not trying to learn the intricacies of roles, including to Iran, Europe likes to play the conical oboe in there were Chinese communist one Asian music course on offer entirely new instruments and and the U.S. the mountains in spring and army and North Korean gueril- anywhere in the United States. music, even Heyman had his In between playing, learning, summer, as it is too loud to play las, and about 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. So after graduating in 1959, doubts and admits it wasn’t easy. and teaching Korean music and indoors. (From left) Chang, Jackson, Kim, Oh and Cho they used to play loud music Heyman moved to a small But when he became the first dance, Heyman has also au- ([email protected]) KAIST awards five honorary degrees Aekyung Chairwoman Chang Young-shin and four others will receive honorary doctoral degrees from the Korea Advanced In- Afghan musician keeps tradition alive stitute of Science and Technology on Friday. The university said Tuesday it would confer honorary Ph.D.s By Borzou Daragahi When I play tabla, I open my Few pay much attention Artists, musicians, composers to Chang, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Shirley Los Angeles Times heart to listeners. Music is the to Mahmoud or to Kharabat and instrument makers flocked Ann Jackson, President of Handong University Kim Young-gil, language that speaks for the Street. Raw sewage trickles here, living in mud-brick houses and philanthropists Oh Yi-won and Cho Chun-shik. KABUL, Afghanistan — The heart, for the soul.” down the narrow roadway and with courtyards. Indian trades- Jackson will receive an honorary degree in science and tech- master sits in a newly painted The 63-year-old Mahmoud trash fills the foundations of man lived nearby, giving the nology, while the other four will receive theirs in business man- house on Kharabat Street, in keeps alive an ancient flame, an bombed-out buildings. area a slightly cosmopolitan, agement. the oldest quarter of this an- authentic Afghan culture that It was once among the most anything-goes atmosphere. “I Chang, who sits on the board of KAIST, served as vice chair- cient city in the mountains. has managed to survive decades storied places in Central Asia. am a Kharabati and an admirer woman of the Federation of Korean Industries and vice chair- He plies his craft with his of war, grinding poverty and More than a century and a of wine,” went one poem. woman of the Korea International Trade Association. fingers, palms and wrists, beat- religious extremists who used half ago, the Afghan monarch Mahmoud began studying Jackson holds a Ph.D. in physics from MIT. In April 2009, she ing, tapping and scraping the to threaten to lynch musicians Emir Sher Ali Khan established music when he was 8 and was was appointed by U.S. President Barack Obama to serve on the oiled surface of his drums as if with their instruments. Kharabat Street as Kabul’s quickly recognized as a prodigy. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. he were listening to the secret Now the threats to the coun- music quarter, where those who He won a scholarship to study Kim Young-gil worked at NASA before returning to Korea in pulse of the universe. Daw-tiki- try’s fragile traditional arts entertained at the castle on the in India, but returned to Khara- 1979 to join the KAIST faculty as materials engineering profes- tak, tiki-tiki, daw-tiki-tak, tiki- come from a flood of high-tech mountain ridge would live. On bat just before Afghanistan’s sor. He took office as Handong president in 1995. Oh donated tiki, the beat goes. pop from Tajikistan or the Per- horseback they made their way major troubles began in the Asif Mahmoud plays the tabla 10 billion won ($9,000) in cash to KAIST last year. Cho also do- “Tabla has its own notes,” sian Gulf as well as rising fear up the slope to the castle, and 1970s. at his Kabul, Afghanistan nated about 10 billion won in property to the university. Asif Mahmoud says. “It speaks that the capital will become en- then back down, night after (McClatchy-Tribune home and studio. ([email protected]) to us. It speaks from my heart. gulfed in violence once again. night. Information Services) Los Angeles Times/MCT
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