Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeong-Suk Bae.
Hi Jeong-Suk, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was born and grew up in Paju, South Korea, a small suburban town near Seoul. My very first piano lessons were when I was eight years old. The next year I played a hymn during a church service while my family sang special music — I think that is where my musical life began.
My childhood and youth were filled with music-making at church. It made my parents’ wish come true that one of their four daughters would play well enough to accompany church services— and eventually, I entered college as a piano major. Dr. Jikang Jung, my piano professor at ChongShin University, was a passionate teacher with a warm heart; she had a strong influence on my keyboard technique and musicality.
As I approached my senior year in college, I met my future husband, Hyeok Lee, a composition student who was dreaming of becoming a choral conductor. He introduced me to the world of British choral music, Bach’s cantatas and keyboard concertos, John Williams’ orchestral works for movies, and early music. He introduced me to the recording of Handel’s Messiah by Paul McCreesh. I still remember how moved I was listening to the words and music of that performance. Hyeok broadened my musical sphere and we began dreaming about studying music further in the US.
The next year after graduating college, we got married and moved to Fort Worth, TX, to work on our master’s degrees at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The music program there offered full scholarships to organ students and I made a life-changing decision; with Hyeok’s encouragement, I switched my major to organ and began studying with Dr. Albert Travis while continuing piano with Dr. Robert Smith.
It was challenging to adjust to another keyboard instrument with a completely different mechanism, but I soon found it interesting and enjoyable working at the organ and developing pedal technique. Meanwhile, I was privileged to accompany the primary concert choir under Dr. Michael Cox. I also worked as a staff accompanist at the school and served as the organist at Gambrell Street Baptist Church. It was a beautiful time filled with new experiences and opportunities.
After earning our master’s degrees in Fort Worth, we moved down to Houston to enroll in the music program at University of Houston. I soon began study for my doctorate in organ performance with Dr. Robert Bates and Dr. Matthew Dirst, both great organ teachers, performers, and musicologists. The years at UH were significant in that I had more fundamental study at the organ with a specialized approach to early music, and I was introduced to harpsichord playing. I earned my DMA degree in 2013. I had always assumed that would be the end of my study and time in the US, but it led to church organist positions at Co-Cathedral and St. Peter’s UMC, and a teaching position at University of St. Thomas. That has kept my life going on in this city.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The biggest challenge has been living far from my family in Korea. Since I moved to the US in 2004, I barely made ten trips to visit them over 15 years. It was for financial reasons during my student years, then the busy schedule between my jobs has made it difficult to plan long trips. I hope to visit them more often — the last time I visited Korea was in March 2020, an unexpected trip for my father who passed away after five years of battling with cancer.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I teach organ at University of St. Thomas as an adjunct professor. Each semester I give lessons to 5-7 organ major/minor students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and teach organ-related classes such as Hymn Playing and Organ Literature. This organ studio had been built from one elective piano student in 2015 and the gradual growth of the studio brought the fundraising of UST’s first practice pipe organ and its installation in 2018. I enjoy working with students and am happy to see them growing in music and finding their professions after graduation. I am also proud of my pre-college private students winning organ competitions and being featured in local/national American Guild of Organists events.
I serve as an organist at St. Peter’s UMC and the Co-Cathedral. Each weekend I accompany liturgies and work with choirs and cantors. Church music has been part of my life since my childhood; I cherish the beauty of liturgy and endeavor to introduce good organ music to the congregation. Besides playing for churches and teaching organ students, I concertize with solo organ recitals and collaborate with local choral/instrumental groups. Performing in a concert, either for solo or for ensemble, is both pain and joy for me — it requires hard work to prepare and to fight to overcome the fear, but it also gives the rewards of pleasure in connecting with the audiences and learning from each performance. Public concerts have been on hold this past year due to Covid-19, and I truly hope this Covid-tide would end soon and that the performing arts would return to its vibrancy.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Hyeok and I bought a house recently, and I really enjoy taking care of the plants in our garden.
Contact Info:
- Email: windgroom@hotmail.com
- Website: https://sacredhearthouston.org/dr-jeong-suk-bae
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeongsuk.bae.75
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjKyAGxhIelbGJszomeLMmA
