Up-and-coming cellist Mun Tae-guk has been named as next year’s Kumho Art hall Artist in Residence, which will provide an opportunity to further his musical career.

Mun, 22, is currently studying at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts under famed musician Laurence Lesser. He started playing the cello at the age of 4. At 20, he won the Pablo Casals International Cello Competition in Hungary, where he played Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A minor, op. 129 accompanied by the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. 

“My parents were always big fans of the cello, but I first started out playing the piano because my mom was a piano major,” said Mun, during a press conference at the Kumho Art Hall in Seoul on Monday.

“But I eventually started showing a lot of promise playing the cello so that’s when I decided to switch my focus,” the musician added. “Actually my parents talked a lot about forming a musical trio, my dad played the clarinet, and since there was already a pianist in the family I eventually decided to learn the cello. The more time that passes, the more I know I made the right decision.”

“I’m an only child, and I really think of my cello as my brother,” Mun said. “A little brother that never listens, but also sometimes a big brother that helps me out at times.”

As the next Kumho resident artist, the cellist will hold five concert performances at Kumho Art Hall in Seoul throughout 2017. Mun’s first performance will be the Kumho Art Hall New Year’s concert on Jan. 12, followed by a homage to Russian classics in his second concert on April 20. The cellist will be accompanied on the piano by none other than his wife, Noh Ye-jin, a pianist and music professor at Seoul National University.

“I think the sounds of the cello are the most similar to the human voice,” said Mun. “But it’s not just about the sounds. The cello creates a profound and warm atmosphere with music. … I once heard this saying I really liked and agree with, ‘Violinists focus on technique, while cellists are devoted to sound, so if you want to see technique, go to a violinist, but if you want to hear great sound, go see a cellist.’”

All tickets for the upcoming Artist in Residence concert performances are listed at 40,000 won. For more information, visit www.kumhoarthall.com.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)