TBT Bora Yoon: Cut From a Different Cloth

Let’s throw it back to late February when the celestial Bora Yoon came to visit us at forum. Yes, it has been over a couple months, and yes I’m still thinking about her visit. Because for the first time at forum, I was able to sit in on a talk given by a young woman of color, more specifically, a young Asian-American woman. Most weeks at forum I would prepare myself to sit and listen to another man or another white person talk about their successes in the composition world and beyond, but as a young Asian individual, that sense of resonance never existed between me and one of our guest speakers. Until Bora Yoon. It is not very often at NYU that I come across professional Asian-American musicians whose work is outside of The Box––The Box defined as anything inherently classical in genre or those stereotypes of piano prodigy Asians. I’ve been craving a connection between my Asian culture and my music and my choice of career for the longest time––I needed a sign that my choice to study composition instead of engineering or medicine was the right path for me. And Bora showed me that 17 year old me, despite the stereotypes and expectations of Asian culture, was not wishful thinking when I realized I wanted to go to school for composition. I walked into 303 immediately intrigued by the plethora of objects laid out in front of Bora: A turntable, a metronome, Tibetan bowls, cellphones, metals straws, an array of pedals––objects so intrinsic to her craft of music. And while I hadn’t heard of her prior to her visit, I think the timing of her coming into my life, even if it was for a brief moment during class, couldn’t be any more perfect. Last semester for the Strings & Composition department’s yearly collaboration, Mix Nouveau, I opted to paint a 30 foot piece of art instead of sweating away on Sibelius inputting black noteheads and markings. I handed the roll of painting to my violinist as the score and this moment was an eye-opening one for me. Because my violinist didn’t question me. It showed me that there are an infinite amount of methods to composing and while to the traditionally-trained eye and ear they might seem kooky and downright unheard of, that doesn’t mean they won’t work. Bora is the all encompassing being of what I discovered for myself last semester. Her use of these random, found, purposefully-chosen objects, her awareness of her performance venues, the thought process of every sound from any source, and the life each sound lives after it has been spoken has brought forth a new perspective to me as a composer, musician, and artist all the same. I’ve always struggled with shaping my music to fit in The Boxes––The Boxes defined as sonata form, to proper instruction of how to score a film, to [insert any struggle you’ve dealt with while navigating your career as a composer here]. I recall my freshman year when I convinced myself that all my music was unworthy garbage because it was tonal. God forbid a composer composes something tonal. While that is a whole other discussion to have, I say that light-heartedly. It dawned on me that I chose to study composition to escape the stereotype of Asian expectation and find musical freedom, only to find myself in a field where the foundation of the art itself is rooted in classical music. Bora and her sounds showed me that there is no need to escape any expectations and stereotypes if you just do you. Disregard everyone outside and hold yourself accountable to yourself. Because if you’re confident in what you do, the chances of an audience questioning you is slim. After forum, when a majority of the class left to see Pulsing & Shaking downstairs in Loewe, I stayed behind to talk to Bora. I told her how badass she is of course, but I also brought up the whole “You’re Asian, I’m Asian. We both went/go to school for composition.” thing and I asked her what her parents think of her career. Because a huge part of Asian culture is pleasing your parents, otherwise you’re a failure. Rough I know, but that’s how I grew up and so did she. Bora ultimately told me that her parents weren’t the most excited about her career choice at first, but doing what she loves, and her parents witnessing her doing what she loves and thriving on it, pleased them. When my spiel about Asian-ness and a bit of background about my life was over, I saw a flicker of recognition in her eyes, as if they were saying, “I know exactly how you feel.” While our conversation was going on, she was stuffing her pedals and objects into her backpack and reusable canvas bags, and that simple action of seeing her pack up her genius masterpiece so nonchalantly, in conjunction with the semi-heavy conversation we had, finally gave me the connection to one our forum speakers that I’ve been searching for. -Jessi Raymundo