THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 8, 1995 TAG: 9501060149
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Close Up
SOURCE: Rebecca A. Myers
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
New York's Carnegie Hall. Jerusalem's International Harp Competition. Charleston's Spoleto Festival. North Carolina's Bach Festival.
These are just a few of the venues at which harpist Hye-Yun Chung Bennett has performed, not to mention her numerous recitals throughout Korea, Japan and Europe.
``I started piano lessons when I was 3, then I combined the major with harp when I was 14,'' said Bennett, an Olde Towne resident.
The Korean-born musician moved to the United States with her family in 1971.
``My parents came here as immigrants for our higher education,'' said Bennett, one of nine children. ``They thought we'd have better opportunities, better teachers, better schools, a better environment.''
Bennett, who received a degree in music from Ewha Woman's University in Seoul before the family's move, went on to receive a master's degree in harp at California State University, Los Angeles.
Eight years after immigrating to the United States, Bennett was making her New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall. A reviewer for The New York Times called Bennett's playing ``assertive and incisive,'' adding that Bennett ``showed she has the facility and poise to handle a demanding program.''
``I felt very flattered by The New York Times article . . . very pleased,'' Bennett said.
Although the review mentioned that the harp is ``a difficult (instrument) to master,'' Bennett disagrees.
``It's not hard,'' she said. ``It's like anything else. It requires a little discipline and time and, of course, you have to be extremely patient to become somebody worthwhile.''
A professor at Louisiana State University for nine years, Bennett gave up her position there to marry and start a family.
``I wanted to have a family and be married, so I gave up my full-time professorship,'' she said. ``I'm very happy. I have a son, and I can do my profession wherever I go. It's there. Nobody can take it away.''
Bennett met her husband, David, a mechanical engineer, at the Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina.
``His parents were faculty members, and I was faculty. I was teaching and performing with the orchestra,'' she said. ``Every summer, I used to go there to teach and play. That's where I met him. He used to carry the harp for me. He was part of the ground crew.''
Currently, Bennett is an adjunct professor of music at Old Dominion University. She also teaches harp and piano in private homes and is a solo artist for Young Audiences of Virginia, a non-profit organization dedicated to taking live entertainment to school children.
``Last year, I went to almost all the high schools in Virginia Beach - Cox, Kempsville, you name the school, I went there,'' she said.
Though her love of music is all-consuming, Bennett has yet to start music lessons for her 4-year-old son, Edward.
``I just feel like I want to wait a little bit, you know?''
Name: Hye-Yun Chung Bennett
Neighborhood: Olde Towne
Number of years in Portsmouth: Three
Birthplace: Seoul, Korea
Occupation: Musician, harpist, pianist, teacher, mother
What other job than your own would you like? Actress
Marital Status: Married to David Charles Bennett
Children: Edward Charles Bennett, 4
First concert: When I was about 6, playing the piano at a radio station in Seoul
Fondest childhood memory: Going to our summer cottage on the Chung-Pyung River every summer to swim and be with beautiful nature.
If you won the lottery, what's the very first thing you'd buy? A beautiful house
If you could trade places for just one day with anyone in the world, who would it be and why? Queen Elizabeth. She lives in the most prestigious palace and has enormous power.
Biggest accomplishment: Delivered my son, Edward, on March 29, 1990
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I would like to be tall, about 5 feet 8 inches
I can't resist: Ice cream
Favorite Portsmouth restaurant: China Garden on High Street
Favorite Portsmouth hangout: Portside during the summer months
Biggest problem facing Portsmouth: Quality of the public schools and crime.
If you had one wish for Portsmouth, what would it be? Good public school system
Other than its small-town atmosphere, what do you like about living in Portsmouth? Good neighbors and convenient location ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
by CNB