Hear Abigail Ko play with Carmel Symphony Orchestra next weekend
By STU CLAMPITT
On Saturday, May 14, Carmel High School Senior Violinist Abigail Ko will perform with the Carmel Symphony Orchestra (CSO). As of Thursday, May 5, Ko has accepted an offer to attend The Juilliard School this fall.
When The Reporter spoke to Ko Friday afternoon, one day after she decided to attend Juilliard, she said the idea did not yet feel real to her.
Ko
“It’s actually kind of surreal,” Ko said. “If you’d asked me maybe three years ago if I’d be going to music school or not, I probably would have laughed at you. I feel like it’s pretty representative of how far I’ve come not only as a musician but as a person just opening up and realizing my own potential. Really, it’s just so surreal.”
Ko began playing violin at six years old and said most violinists she knows started even earlier.
“I have a friend whose mother is a violin/beginner piano teacher,” Ko said. “I would go to this friend’s house a lot and I would see her mom giving violin lessons pretty often. That’s when I realized I wanted to start.”
Ko said she was not pushed into violin by her parents, but it was a thing she chose herself and something that she often did not see the point in, even though it was her own decision.
“What’s funny is that I used to hate practicing when I was younger and not enjoy it one bit,” Ko told The Reporter. “It was more of a ‘I don’t know why I’m doing this’ thing for a while, but I’d say that definitely started to change in middle school. Over time, as I started playing with other people, I started to see my violin as something that could help me grow out of my shell a little bit. I tend to be kind of shy sometimes, but I feel like being able to connect with people over music allows me to actually be myself in a way.”
Ko describes herself as a classical violinist through and through.
“Over the years I have wanted to branch out a little bit more,” Ko said. “I haven’t quite gotten around to doing that yet. I’m taking little baby steps trying to learn to play things by ear a little better. I’m definitely a classical violinist, but I envy anybody that can play by ear and make up tunes on the spot because that’s the level I aspire to be at one day.”
Ko told The Reporter her favorite composer to play is Prokofiev, followed closely by Tchaikovsky.
“With Prokofiev I find that I don’t always have to sound pretty,” Ko said. “I feel like I can be very gutsy, especially when I played his first violin concerto. That’s probably my favorite piece I’ve played of all time. Then also Tchaikovsky is definitely a classic in violin repertoire. I have enjoyed playing his violin concerto a lot. It’s another one of the most favorite pieces I have ever played.”
The last time Ko performed with an orchestra was in 2018 with Muncie Symphony Orchestra during their Halloween concert. Her performance with CSO on Saturday will be not only her biggest venue so far, but a good capstone to her high school years as she the prepares to go to one of the world’s leading performing arts schools.
When asked what message she would like to pass along to our readers, Ko said, “Don’t be afraid to chase your dreams because you never know where you’re going to end up. I certainly did not know. I hope somebody out there chooses to do so.”