getting lessons from Professor Chung. She was so cosmopolitan and chic and seemed like a foreigner to me. But one day, she invited me to have dinner and she made kimchi stew instead of pasta. I thought, ‘wow she really is Korean!’” Chung remains to be a mother figure to him, he said.

He said he was thrilled to be back onstage and moreover, to reunite with his teacher. He used to receive lessons as a boy from the esteemed cellist and professor Chung Myung-wha, who is co-directing the festival with her violinist sister Kyung-wha.

“Professor Chung is always so concerned about me, and was worried whether I would have time to practice while studying. It felt like meeting family again and I’m so happy to see her as asame can be said about Korean music,” he said, explaining that he was impressed by how the Kim Duk-soo “samulnori” (percussion quartet) recently performed at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Despite being a promising soloist, Koh has barely been seen onstage as of late. He made a rare appearance at the festival because he was able to get a couple weeks off from doing research on molecular biology.

The cellist, who graduated with a double degree at Harvard and the New England Conservatory, is currently in his second year of pursuing a Ph. D. at Princeton. During the festival, when he wasn’t playing onstage, he was often spotted typing away furiously on his laptop near the press center. It was for the wireless Internet connection so he could