by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
COBDEN — Grace United Church in Cobden held a special 110th anniversary service Sunday night with a Korean ensemble performing for the first time in Canada.
The Hanulsori Ocarina Ensemble is a group of seven performers, each playing their own ocarina.
The ocarina is a mouth instrument created out of clay with 14 holes in it. The performer blows into the instrument, which is held by both hands, covering and uncovering the holes with fingers, creating a beautiful sound. Each member of the ensemble had a different ocarina to correspond with the singing ranges of soprano to bass.
Sosun Suh, a hae-geum player from Petawawa, also performed. The hae-geum is a Korean traditional two-stringed vertical fiddle.
The Peever family — Keith and Margaret, son Dean and granddaughters Emma and Olivia — of Cobden also performed on piano and fiddle.
The church-goers were so enthralled by the performers, there was a standing ovation as the notes of the final song rang throughout the church.
The anniversary event began with a potluck dinner for the Ensemble performers — Seong Seok Yang, Hanmun Han, Yunjoo Kim, Mi Jeong Lee, Eun Yeong Kim, Woong Gyu Han and Byoung Gu Lee — their tour guide Keith Chung and the church families who were billeting the ensemble for the night, and a few guests.
Grace United Church Rev. James Min and wife Hester were dressed in traditional Korean outfits in blues, purples and browns.
During the church service, the Hanulsori Ocarina Ensemble performed as a group, soloists and in twos. They performed a variety of hymns and traditional songs.
Ms. Suh’s performance was lively and quite unique, as many had never heard the hae-geum played before. She encouraged the church-goers to sing along to the songs she performed on the hae-guem as the words appeared on the screen.
The Peever family, with Keith on the piano, entertained with their fiddles. They had the crowd toe-tapping and hand-clapping throughout their four songs.
During the service, Rev. Min noted Christian churches have only been in Korea for 130 years, which is only 20 years longer than Grace United Church has been around.
There has been much growth in Christianity in Korea, noting in 2014, 30 per cent of the Korean population declared themselves Christians. There are 293 Christian schools and 40 Christian universities in Korea, Rev. Min told those gathered.
There are 23,000 Korean Protestant missionaries serving 156 countries, he said.
He thanked the Ensemble for glorifying the name of Jesus Christ, adding, “May He use you as a mighty instrument of His peace, power and grace wherever you go.”
Preparing to introduce the Ensemble to the crowd, Mr. Chung said the ocarina is baked like pottery and has 14 holes.
“It requires minimum skill to play,” he said, adding, “The music is so beautiful.”
He noted while driving from Toronto to Cobden, they passed through three of the four seasons.
“We had flurries coming down and it’s only mid-October,” he said. “We left summer, travelled through fall and arrived in winter.
“I hope Cobden has a spring,” he said, bringing laughter from the church-goers.
Upon arriving in Cobden, the performers noted the beautifully coloured leaves in a neighbouring yard, and after permission from home-owners Sandy and Jack Buttle, enjoyed an hour or so of playing in the leaves and taking photos.
“They had a lot of fun out there,” Mr. Chung said.
The Hanulsori Ocarina Ensemble was established in 2004 in South Korea to promote and deliver ocarina music to the world.
“They deliver praise to the Lord through their instruments,” he said.
Following the service, there were refreshments served in the community hall and an opportunity to socialize.
Prior to the service, Mr. Chung said the Hanulsori Ocarina Ensemble arrived in Toronto on Saturday and drove to Cobden in two vehicles on Sunday. Following the anniversary service, they were to go to their hosts’ homes for the night and return to the church for 9 a.m. Monday. They had planned on going to Montreal, but were thinking things over and planning on possibly going to the Parliament buildings in Ottawa instead.
Mr. Chung thought that might be easier on the tourists, since they had to return to Toronto Monday night.
Following a performance in Toronto, they were planning on spending a few days in Niagara Falls, before returning to Toronto for a dinner concert.
A Christian group, Mr. Chung said the Hanulsori Ocarina Ensemble has been performing throughout several southeast Asian countries.
Coming to Canada was an opportunity to promote the musical instrument and deliver the message of God through music.
He noted 80 per cent of the Korean population enjoys the ocarina, which arrived in that country in the late 1970s. It originated in Italy in the late 18th century.
This instrument is used in many movie backgrounds, he said.
The Ensemble members are the elite performers of the ocarina, he said. They are teaching music teachers so the ocarina can be taught in schools.
Mr. Chung heard them perform, became friends with the music leader, and invited them to come to Canada.
He noted his church has an ocarina ensemble, but play no where near as well as these performers.
Each member of the ensemble, some bringing their spouses, paid their own way.
The $885 collection taken up during the anniversary service was presented to the music director by Peter Poff, who thanked them for performing.
The anniversary service was one that will be long remembered by those who attended.
