MISSION STATEMENT
The Center for Musical Excellence (CME) provides high-caliber training and individually tailored assistance, financial support, and professional opportunities to gifted young musicians who wish to pursue their advanced education and life in music in the United States. CME aims to inspire, guide, and mentor aspiring young artists toward a meaningful and successful career, one that enriches both the artist and the community through the gift of music.
LETTER FROM OUR DIRECTOR
When asked “Who should pursue music as profession?” Isaac Stern replied:
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“Those who cannot imagine living without it. If every fiber of your being wants and demands it. When you are listening to the thirty minutes of Debussy’s La Mer, and for the twenty-five minutes of it, you are lost, you don’t understand it. But, if something happens to you during that five minutes or five seconds, something in your heart or your soul – you get those goose bumps? Then, it’s enough reason to want to be in music.”
Throughout my years of teaching and performing, I have encountered numerous aspiring young musicians who hold this special love for music. Whether music chooses them, or they choose music, once drawn to that power, it is inescapable. Perhaps this is the very reason why so many young people, despite many challenges and uncertainties, do not dare to leave it. And they shouldn’t leave it! They have been “touched” by music. I, too, was once one of these young artists. Often discouraged in my musical journey, I asked many questions, and searched and struggled to find the answers: how do I play better, how can I do justice to this music, how and from whom must I learn, where do I go from here? How do I move forward?
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Looking back, from this point of my career, I feel abundantly blessed with support and guidance from my mentors, fans, friends and family. Now, through CME, I want to serve all of the young musicians who seek to better themselves in order to experience the gift of music. CME is here to make it happen, to guide, mentor, and inspire. We will make a difference, one young person at a time. Whether as a student, teacher, patron, or volunteer, I invite you to join us as we help young musicians move forward. The world will be a better place with all of us cultivating beauty through music.
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MIN KWON
Pianist
Founder and Director of CME