Lee So-Young, Youngest Manager in the History of the National Opera Company Art Director Lee So-Young (graduate of Department of Vocal Music, Yonsei University) of the National Opera Company is the first women opera director in the history of Korean opera. And she is also the youngest non-vocalist manager the Company has ever had. Unlike the former elderly vocalist managers, she has been given the task of carrying on the legacy of the Company with quality performances while at the same time developing various components of the stage. Lee was first introduced to opera when she went to her mother’s performance at the age of five. Her mother, Professor Emeritus Hwang Young-Geum of the Yonsei Department of Vocal Music, played the role of Chunhyang’s mother in the opera Chunhyang. Lee remembers to this day being moved to tears at her mother’s performance. “Since then, I’d hang around behind stage for every performance my mother did, and was deeply interested in the opera stage. I would also walk down the Baekyang-ro everyday with my mother to go home. I used to wait for my mother’s lessons to be over. Obviously, I was going to become a Yonsei student.” Lee had her first directing experience while preparing a performance of “Jesus Chris Superstar” in high school. Following a teacher’s recommendation, she became the director, but had to rely on her imagination for she lacked professional knowledge. “I really didn’t know a thing. But I came back to my room after the performance and my heart was beating wildly. I first realized what it means to bring music and theater together.” In order to maintain her ties with the world of opera, Lee studied at the Yonsei Department of Vocal Music. In those days, there weren’t many programs to train opera directors. However, she didn’t give up. She became a member of the photography club and learned how to work with and set up the frame. Then in junior year, something truly dramatic happened. “It was a godsend. I was someone who wouldn’t generally looked at the College of Music bulletin board, but one day, I happened to see a small notice in the corner. It was an exchange program with the Bowling Green State University of Ohio. Having a strict father, my grades were pretty good, so I had no difficulty being selected as an exchange student. Studying for a year there, I met a great teacher and started on a path toward becoming an opera director. After I came back to Korea and graduated, I went to Italy and studied for seven years.” “A director must bring together all of the components harmoniously” “All I do is direct opera. Ever since I was little, I have asked the fundamental questions of how the Western genre of the opera survived to the modern era and why it is relevant to us.” As a director, she debuted with Rossini’s The Bill of Marriage in 1997, and the 40 performances she has directed since her first debut served as the process to find the answers to these questions. For her, directing opera was a strenuous battle, for it is “the work of a blind person trying to draw a huge elephant by touching it”. Indeed, there were hard times. “During my six year in Italy, I felt like I was in a dark cave. In order to become a proper director, I had to learn the language, theory, performance, design, in short, everything from scratch. Although I dreamt of becoming a director, I could never be so sure, because I felt so lost and had so many unanswered questions.” But even in this dark cave, there was a ray of light. This came to her when she was participating in a one-month seminar in the medieval town of Sienna in Tuscany. The daily regiment which began at 8:30 in the morning and continued to 8:30 in the evening tortured both her body and her mind. However, this extreme process led her to an answer one of her questions. She was able to answer the question of why it had to be opera, why directing opera was different from other things. Her answer was that directing opera was “breathing music,” making music come alive by bring out its own specific “breath”. In opera, the director and executive are not very different. Both positions require a comprehensive understanding of all of the components and how they come together, and also clashing with many people. However, there was also the pressure as the youngest opera director in the history of the company. She had at first turned down the job offer due to the attention that would come with it. However, now she lives everyday of her life to make the National Opera Company truly “National”. Starting work at 6 a.m. and going till 10 p.m., the work is a joy to her though others may view it as living a hard life. “A true director feels something envelope her the moment she feels the stage. In the theater, there is something mystical. When I enter the hall every morning and leave it at night with the cold air in my nose, I am in a time and space of my own. And I enjoy it. It is a joy that I would not share with anyone else or ever give up.” Her long-held belief that “music changes people” shows her goal in working with opera. What led her to be what she is now is her determination. As someone who is happiest when directing opera, she wishes to share this happiness with others and that is what the Company aspired to do. Hoping to make not only the members of the company but also the entire world happy, Lee is currently preparing the first performance of “Salome” to be produced in Korea. “Coming to the theater for an opera is participating in a cosmic force that brings the stage and the audience together. I hope you will fully enjoy that moment.” “The Yonsei spirit is the foundation of my growth.” As a graduate of the Yonsei Department of Vocal Music, Lee has recently started feeling the power of Yonsei once again. “When I was a student at Yonsei, I benefited a lot from the Yonsei spirit in my growth and development. There were lots of seminars that I could go to, and even though I was having a hard time because there was no ready way to become an opera director or other footsteps to follow in, I never doubted my decision.” Lee did go through a difficult period when she first decided to become an opera director. There were no guidelines as to which school she should study at or even what to study. When you are going a path nobody has trodden before, it is always more difficult. However, she never lost sight of her dream. As a proud Yonseian, she hopes that all Yonsei students will follow their dream. “Youth gives you the right to fail. Enjoy this privilege. No matter how many times you fall down, you should rise up again and again. As long as you know what your goal is, it’s okay if it take a while to get there.”