ⓒ 2013 WATV

The Messiah Orchestra of the Church of God, and the Student Orchestra which is composed of the student members of the Messiah Orchestra held a nationwide tour for the New Year.

The subtitle of the concerts is “Music Journey for Students.” It is to give students an opportunity to have a cultural experience and to purify their emotions and to deliver God’s love. It was held in eleven different cities last year and received fervent responses from students, and this year, the orchestra concert of the Messiah Orchestra and of the Students’ Orchestra was held in fourteen different cities for seven days from Jan. 20th to the 27th except on the Sabbath day.

The Messiah Orchestra had concerts in Seongnam, Gumi, Busan, Ulsan, Pohang, Daegu and Daejeon; and the Student Orchestra held concerts in Cheonan, Suncheon, Gwangju, Mokpo, Gunsan, Cheongju and Jecheon. The Churches of God in many different cities including the New Jerusalem Temple in Bundang, Seongnam, were opened to their neighbors as a concert hall. Each concert hall was crowded with students, their parents, teachers and education officials; around 25,000 people came to the concerts during the tour.The Messiah Orchestra performed “The Bright, Heavenly Way,” “Finlandia” by Sibelius, “Slavonic Dances” by Dvorak, “Light Cavalry Overture” by Suppe, “Amazing Grace” and “Holy City” sung by the male quartet, the new songs “All You, Pass Thru the Red Sea” and “The Staff of Moses,” “Colonel Bogey March” by Alford and “Radetzky March” by Johann Strauss. The Student
Orchestra also started with “The Bright, Heavenly Way” and performed “Symphony No. 5” by Beethoven, Waltz by Shostakivich, “Hungarian Dances” by Brahms, “Light Cavalry Overture” by Suppe, and their last performance was a new song with the male and female octet and “Radetzky March” by Johann Strauss.

All the students in the audience listened to the music in earnestness from the first performance. They showed mature attitudes throughout the performance, and then they participated with a lively attitude in the last performance, which
was Radetzky March, clapping along with the music. After the performance, the audience requested for an encore, and they played the song from “My Neighbor Totoro” which is popular among the students. The audience let out a cheer when they heard the familiar melodies.

“I don’t like music that much, but it was my best choice to come here. It relieved my stress. The concert was great, and I was very inspired by their performance.”

The students, who usually listen to pop music, not orchestra music, were excited to experience something new and said, “I’ve never felt so touched and inspired.” The older generation was happy that a concert was held to provide students with emotional stability, heal the wounds in their hearts and give them dreams. Some regional public figures such as Choi Yeong-ho the Head of Nam Borough of Gwangju, Park Hyeon-uk the Head of Suyeong Borough of Busan, and Kang Seung-gu the Vice Mayor of Gunsan also came to the concert and expressed their appreciation to the Church of God for providing the students in each region with a great performance to foster their hopes and
dreams.

The members of the Messiah Orchestra and the Student Orchestra said, “If you listen to good music, you can find peace in your heart. You can also get rid of narrow-mindedness and learn how to be united, considerate and love one
another. Classical music is good, but especially the New Song gives so much peace in our hearts. First of all, we gave glory to God, and we played music, praying that God would be pleased and move the students through the Holy
Spirit.” Missionary Jeong Gi-hun the conductor of the Messiah Orchestra said, “I hope that the students will recover their pure mind through music, and dream for the future rather than get discouraged by realities.” He also expressed his wish that many students would come to the concert and be moved by the Holy Spirit.

The Church of God Student Orchestra finished their tour for January, and is planning to reopen the tour for students in local churches in the capital area for ten days in February during the spring vacation.

Reviews
It was very inspiring. I almost got up from my seat, being so excited. This kind of performance requires a lot of efforts and teamwork. These days, students are unstable emotionally, so I hope that their emotions will be purified through this kind of opportunity.
(Lee Jin-ho, Music Teacher at Jecheon Uirim Female Middle School)

I believe that this concert gave great energy to the students who had not had this kind of experience, and that it will remain in their minds as a great memory. It was very inspiring and great. They must have practiced a lot. Their performance was wonderful, and I couldn’t believe that they were only students. I hope that they will inspire many people throughout Korea through this kind of volunteer service and performance.
(Gwon Seok-hyeong, Principal of Yeongwol Seok-jeong Female High School)

When I studied in the United States, there were many chances to listen to an orchestra performance, but I never imagined that I would have a chance to listen to orchestra performance in Suncheon, a provincial city in Korea. I’m sure that the students who always listened to popular music were able to fill their souls and enhance their dreams through this orchestra performance purifying souls.
(Ahn Gil-sun, Chief Professor of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, Suncheon Jeil University)

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a high-quality orchestra concert. It was very touching. The orchestra performance was great, and I was also very surprised to see this church members’ future-oriented volunteer activities. If everybody was like them, why would we have to worry about school violence or school welfare? I hope that all the students will become future-oriented through this concert and think about others first and work for society.
(Jeong Jeong-tae, School Commissioner of Ulsan Office of Education)

I was deeply moved. It’s actually educational organizations that have to organize this kind of event, but a church did it. I appreciate it. I was able to learn what I can do for students. I was also invited to the Messiah Orchestra Concert that was held in the Daegu Gymnasium. At that time, their performance overflowed the big gymnasium. It might’ve been better if the place was bigger for the performance today, too. It was too small to contain this great performance.
(Choi Jae-un, Education Officer of Seobu Education Support in Daegu)

While listening to their performance, I was healed spiritually. I was deeply moved to tears by their performance and the students’ attitude. I give A++ to the performance. It must be hard to prepare for a concert like this, but it will be really good if you give more chances to students to listen.
(Kim Dong-geon, Educational Committee of Daejeon, Former Professor of Chungnam University)

It was so joyful. It feels like spring has already sprung in my heart. The motive of this concert is perfect. Music helps teenagers communicate with others and find emotional stability. It is a role of a family and of a mother to raise their children to have a healthy mind and body, and this kind of event plays the role of a family and of a mother and creates unity and communication.
(Lee Gyeong-woo, Branch Manager of Newspaper for Women)

It was amazing that many people could create one beautiful sound with many different musical instruments. I liked the sound, and it was different from the music I listened to on the computer. (Kim Hyeong-jung, 13)

I’ve never been to an orchestra concert before. It was grander and more expressive than pop music. It was a great experience. (Park Hee-jeong, 14)

The performance was great. Just as they made one sound with different musical instruments, it was a good chance for us to become one through the concert. (Yu Hee-ju, 17)

I’ve brought my teacher and his wife who like classical music. After each performance, they gave a big round of applause and said that the students were as good as professional musicians. The performance also moved me to tears. It seemed like all my worries disappeared. I’d been exhausted from studying these days but I gained strength through this concert. (Lee Ji-su, 17)

ⓒ 2013 WATV

ⓒ 2013 WATV