On April 14, the North Dakota Museum of Art hosted the final featured artist for their 2023-2024 season of Concerts in the Galleries Presented by The Myra Foundation. This concert showcased the talents of percussionist and marimba player, Ji Su Jung. Ji Su Jung was born in South Korea and has been playing marimba since she was three years old. She has won many awards for her skills and has performed in well-known locations with various well-known artists. Along with this, she has built a very impressive solo career and is an ambassador for many different percussion companies, such as Vic Firth and Adams Percussion.  

This performance was a uniquely special experience and highlighted her many talents. Her ability to not only play all of the different styles of pieces but to also be so expressive in her movements is admirable. The way that she would move with each note she played and allowed her face to show the emotion that the music evoked in her was captivating. Each piece she played was unique in their own way. She began her performance with a piece from the 1700’s, Bach’s “Suite in E minor for Lute, BWV 996.” This piece had six separate movements, and each featured a new set of sounds and emotion from the performer. She followed this with a more contemporary piece titled “…does not remember the footprints of birds,” which was written by Soomin Kim and debuted by Jung during the COVID-19 pandemic through a virtual performance. She ended this portion of the performance before a short intermission, with Astor Piazzolla’s “Invierno Porteño from Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires).” 

After the short intermission, the second portion of the concert began with a performance of a piece called “Clocks” by Joan Tower. Originally written to be performed on guitar, this piece transferred to marimba beautifully. The piece to follow was Keiko Abe’s “Variations on Japanese Children’s Songs.” Abe is a Japanese composer who played a large role in the development of the marimba, and this reflected beautifully through this piece. By the end of the performance, the audience was sent back to where they had started as Jung concluded with Bach’s “Cello Suite No.1 in G major, MWV 1007.” She took her audience on a unique journey through different time periods, different styles of music and various emotions.  

The performance concluded and guests were welcomed to explore the museum, admire the art and talk with the artist who performed all while enjoying some wine and cheese. This is meant to be an opportunity to take a moment to appreciate the performance by talking with others while also taking some time to learn more about the museum and all it has to offer to our community.   

The Concerts in the Galleries series is meant to showcase all sorts of musicians and encourage people to come out and listen to this talent while also getting the opportunity to explore the museum and the other featured art they have on display. This might have been the last concert of this year’s season, but the series will continue in the fall as they enter their next season of performers. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled to see what artists will be featured next year and consider making your way over to experience this unique opportunity. 

Nora Lee is a Dakota Student General Reporter. She can be reached at [email protected].