Taking Myself Seriously as a Musician

This year, God has been challenging me to take myself seriously as an intercessor, worship leader, shepherd, and influencer. And a big part of that has been choosing to cut certain things out of my life. In order to gain something, you often have to forfeit other things. So I’ve been rearranging the way I live…

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More Than Good Enough: Overcoming the Pressure to Perform

The Pianist There was a time when practicing the piano was a part of my daily life. That time spanned most of my life thus far. I forget that sometimes. But when I randomly sit down at my keyboard and play some Chopin, it all comes rushing back. I feel like I’m breathing in real air […]

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Unexpected Reminders: Classical Music

Two weeks ago, I was sitting in church when something unexpected happened. A realization hit me so hard I sobbed through closing praise. On the verge of starting my first full time job (as a kindergarten teacher) and of leading my first small group at church, I assumed that all my energy and all my thoughts […]

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Music-making Tuesdays

When the semester started a few weeks ago, I thought I was going to hate Tuesdays. Wake up at 7:30am, hour subway/bus commute to school, piano lesson at 10am, 2-hour studio class at 3pm (in Korean), then hour subway/bus commute to the prayer tabernacle for practice, then serve at the prayer tabernacle from 8-10pm. After “enduring” […]

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My First Piano Studio Class in Korea

First Studio Class! Earlier, I was planning to write a post about my first studio class in Korea and all the interesting little things that happened (like how we pianists all just ate food and chatted for 40 minutes until someone finally volunteered to play), but now I am simply too tired. This is mostly […]

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Getting Started with my Fulbright Year: Meeting the Prof

I decided to stop waiting for my alien registration number and get things rolling here in Korea phone-less, bank account-less, and passport-less. It’s been working out great so far. Yesterday, a new Korean friend took me around SNU (my new school) and treated me to iced tea and egg tart in a coffee shop on […]

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