Expecting an award-winning vocalist, the audience spilling out of chairs and on to the floor at Irvine's Amado Recital Hall froze as eight-year-old Jang Seoyun sang her first note.
Along with 15-year-old Kim Min Joo and teacher No Booyoung, Seoyun performed traditional Korean music on Friday, entitled "The Sound of the "Kayag–m."
Playing the kayag–m, an oblong, stringed Korean instrument, Min Joo and Booyoung performed traditional pieces along with more familiar tunes such as Pachelbel's Canon and "Home on the Range."
Young Seoyun, like most pansori singers, began studying the Korean folk music intensely at an early age.
"This is a kind of apprentice[ship]," said Korean Language Professor Youngdai Yoo. "Sometimes they live together and study all day long. To be a master, it takes years."
Before the show began, Cheri Love, the outreach coordinator for the Center for East Asian Studies, announced that Yoo would replace drummer Jeong Junho in that night's performance. Junho could not get a visa to come to the United States at the last minute.
Despite the international mix-up, the performance ran smoothly. Over 100 Korean community members, students and professors gobbled up the tickets 15 minutes before showtime, while late listeners filed in to the space along the walls and on the floor.
Afterwards, Yoo and Korean Language and Literature Professor Milan Hejtmanek answered questions about the kayag–m and its place in Korean culture.
Korean Language Professor Ju-Young Han knows the benefits of experiencing different cultures.
"I invited all my students in my class, and I felt I should come as well," Han said. "I heard from the program coordinator that it was going to be an excellent performance."
Community members also said they enjoyed the show. Regina Ottman brought her four-year-old adopted Korean daughter, Doris, to the event.
"My husband and I are musicians, so there's a professional interest as well as a personal one," Ottman said.
The show ended with a sailor song.
"If it [was] a real performance, we [would] have to drink rice wine," Hejtmanek said. "It gets better and better."
The Center for East Asian Studies helped sponsor the performance.
