Young musicians have coordinated a benefit concert to help the students in South Korea affected by the Sewol ferry tragedy. The concert takes place Saturday, June 21, at 5 p.m. at Kingston Presbyterian Church. Tickets are $10, with all proceeds benefitting Danwon High School.
On April 16 a ferry off the coast of South Korea capsized on its way to Jeju Island. 476 people were on the boat at the time, including 240 students from Danwon High School. There were 304 casualties. “Many of these high school students, and the surviving high school students now face a bleak, unfortunate reality, with many of their friends gone,” says Harry Kim, father of two of the musicians.
Hartley’s Legacy is a music volunteer group, founded in October by Iris Kwak of West Windsor, and Daniel and Joanna Kim of South Brunswick. The student musicians, ranging from middle to high school, perform twice a month for the senior residents at the Pavilion at Forrestal in Plainsboro. Their repertoire includes classical, jazz, contemporary, and gospel music.
The group was developed “to share our love for music with others, especially with those who need it the most,” says its website, www.hartleyslegacy.org.
Kwak, 14, is a freshman at High School North, where she participates in the school’s chorale, NJ Stand, Relay for Life, and the literary magazine. She has been studying piano since she was five years old. Her previous teachers include Ingrid Clarfield and Soo Kyung Cho. She now studies with Chiu-Tze Lin.
Kwak has received awards in NJMTA Young Artists Piano competition, Steinway Society Scholarship competition, Cecilian Music Club Young Artist competition, Golden Key Music Festival, NJMTA Spring Recital Audition (for seven consecutive years), American Fine Arts Festival, NLPA Piano and Chamber Music Competition, and the Associate Music Teacher’s League. She has performed at numerous concert halls including Zankel Hall and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and Merkin Recital Hall.
Kwak has performed in a solo recital at All Nations Music Church. She has also performed at benefit concerts for the Hope for Henry Foundation and for victims of Hurricane Katrina. As well as being an accomplished young concert pianist with classical music, Kwak also enjoys playing the piano for her church’s youth group worship team, and plays piano and percussion instruments for Bravura Youth Orchestra,
She has lived in West Windsor since 2003. Her father, SungJoon Kwak, works at a private bank in New York. Her mother, Sunhee Kwak, plays piano. Her brother, Ian, 11, is a fifth grader at Millstone River, where he plays clarinet in the band.
The group is named after Wallace Henry Hartley, born in 1878, the bandmaster on the Titanic. Legend has it that Hartley and his orchestra performed for the passengers while lifeboats were being loaded. “While we may never sacrifice our lives, we sacrifice our time and use whatever musical talents we may have to perform for those who need it the most,” their website says. “Our hopes are that through our small acts of kindness, we can make a difference in the lives of the people who listen to and watch us perform.”
Proceeds will be used to assist the surviving students at Danwon High School by helping them receive therapy and counseling.
Benefit Concert, Hartley’s Legacy, Kingston Presbyterian Church, 4565 Route 27, Kingston. Saturday, June 21, 5 p.m. $10. E-mail contact@hartleyslegacy.org for information. www.hartleyslegacy.org.
