Devil’s Music

For about five minutes, the curtain blocking the stage remained closed. As the audience's murmurs grew, speculating a cancellation of the final piece, the curtain began to slowly open. The crowd pointed and shouted as the curtain moved.

"Ah! It's starting again!"

"Thought it was over, I was so worried. I came just for this piece."

"Start quickly~~"

As the curtain opened fully, revealing the stage, the audience exclaimed in surprise.

"What? Why are all the musicians facing the center? Where's the conductor's podium?"

Indeed, the musicians on the revealed stage were seated in two blocks, facing an empty space in the middle, where a stunningly beautiful guitar stood on a stand. The sight prompted screams from the audience.

"Screams!!! It's the White Falcon!"

"It's Kay! It's Kay's guitar!"

Unfazed by the screams, Damian Marley and two black session musicians emerged from behind the musicians, waving as they walked out, eliciting more screams from the audience.

"Wow~~~~ Damian Marley!"

"It's Bob Marley's son, Damian!"

As Damian checked his instruments at the percussion set, the audience cheered him on. Then, from the right side of the curtain, Sean Lennon appeared. Dressed in a black tuxedo and smiling, he walked to the grand piano and bowed politely.

"Wow~~~!!! To see the sons of Bob Marley and John Lennon on the same stage!"

"Screams!! I'm so excited!"

Sean sat at the grand piano, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. The majority of female audience members screamed as if the zoo itself was collapsing.

"Screams!!! It's Kay!!!"

"Screams!! My love!!"

"Oh my, oh my! Kay in a tuxedo! So handsome, screams!"

"Honey! Your lover is me, not Kay!"

"Quiet! You're not even worth Kay's toenail, hmph!"

As the women screamed, Geon, dressed in a black tuxedo and a high-collared dress shirt, walked through the musicians seated in blocks. As he smiled and waved, another round of tremendous cheers and applause erupted.

"Screams!!! Kay!!!"

Geon raised both hands, focusing the audience's attention, then smiled and gestured towards the side curtain. The audience followed his gesture with their eyes.

"Screams! What are those adorable little ones?"

"What? Bears? Tigers? They look like baby animals?"

As Geon pointed, Ricky and Pye emerged, wiggling their little behinds onto the stage, looking curiously at the screaming audience. Ricky, reacting instinctively to the loud noises, stood on two legs and raised his front paws as if greeting the audience, causing laughter.

"Laughs!! So cute!!"

Pye, though a baby tiger, bravely glanced at the people before hopping towards Geon. Ricky, after a moment of confusion, hurried over to Geon as well.

As Geon stooped to pet Ricky and Pye who had come to his side, the two baby animals playfully rolled around on the floor, charming the audience into hanging broad smiles unknowingly on their lips. Geon stood up and received a microphone from a nearby cellist.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Geon spoke into the microphone.

"Thank you all for being here today. I'm Kay from the Juilliard Orchestra."

Cheers poured out as Geon waved.

"Screams~~ I love you!!"

"I've been looking forward to this! You're really handsome, Kay!"

"Oh no, I think I'm really falling for him!"

Geon looked at the cheering crowd and then spoke again.

"Today's performance was a regular free concert by the Juilliard Orchestra. As always, it wasn't held in a hall within the Juilliard School but here at the Bronx Zoo. Actually, today's performance was for the animals. Oh, I don't mean to ask for donations for the animals. Haha."

The audience laughed at Geon's light joke, and he continued.

"The beginning of this connection started one night when I sang in front of the large birdcage on the right side, without much thought, holding my guitar."

Following Geon's gesture, the audience looked at the large birdcage rising on the right side of the stage. The cage, hidden by lush trees with only its top visible, showed many birds flying vigorously within.

"Many of you may know the story from the articles. It was fortunate for me, who was wandering and pondering, to come to the Bronx Zoo. I met Ricky and Pye here as well."

As Geon mentioned their names, Ricky and Pye, who had been playfully rolling on the ground, looked up curiously at him. The audience laughed again at the cute sight of the two baby animals. Geon looked down at Ricky and Pye, smiling, then continued.

"I'd like to thank zookeeper Olivia and Director

Emma of the Bronx Zoo for teaching me what sounds animals and nature make and for allowing this performance."

As Geon prompted applause, the audience clapped. He then pointed towards two women in the front row of the audience, who awkwardly stood and waved back. The audience realized they were Olivia and Emma and sent them a louder round of applause.

After Olivia and Emma sat down, somewhat embarrassed by the attention, Geon picked up the microphone again.

"Lastly, the song I will present to you is 'Parachute' by Sean Ono Lennon, arranged for orchestra. It's a song that expresses the emotions of sad love, containing the beauty of love, the fear of separation, and the concept of death."

As Geon earnestly explained the piece, both the general audience and the experts listened intently.

"It's not just about expressing the emotions conveyed by the song through the orchestra arrangement. I prefer to play first and leave the interpretation and judgment to you. Isn't that the fate of those who create art?"

Geon reached for Haku, slung over his shoulder, and spoke.

"One of the people I consider a mentor in my musical life once said, 'Music that does not intend anything is meaningless. Music must signify something; if the listener experiences an emotional change upon hearing it, then the music's meaning has been conveyed to them.' I hope what I intended with this arrangement reaches you."

The audience saw a beautiful boy, mic set aside, strapping on the world's most beautiful, dazzlingly white guitar, closing his eyes, and tilting his head towards the sky. The boy's focused form shone brilliantly among the concentrating musicians. The audience, maintaining silence so as not to disturb his concentration, heard a woman's murmur.

"So, so beautiful.."

Geon, gently picking the pick tucked into Haku's head, placed his hand over the guitar strings and opened his eyes. Confirming that all musicians were focused on him, he nodded to Damian and the two percussion session players waiting at the percussion set. The session man softly struck the first rhythm on the percussion.

"Ah!"

With Damian Marley's soft exclamation, the percussion softly opened the performance with a distinctive reggae rhythm. As Damian led the rhythmic percussion, causing the audience to sway, the reggae's unique rhythm subtly moved the bodies of the audience, who had been watching the performance with decorum. Geon raised a hand to signal the violin and cello players, then swung his hand down to start. The violinists, following Geon's cue, began the prelude to 'Parachute', quickly joined by the cellos.

The reggae rhythm combined with the grandeur of the violin and cello created the illusion of a new instrument's sound. As the audience marveled at the novel performance, Norman Lebrecht and classical experts watched Geon with astonishment.

'The guitarist is conducting!'

Norman wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, his eyes trembling.

'A musician conducting, and this volume? It's lower than classical music I've heard before. How can there be absolutely no jarring to the ears? I can't tell if I'm listening to music or the sound of the wind calling from the African plains.'

The classical channel's PDs, mouths agape, ran to the sound director to ask,

"Is the recording going well, Director?"

The sound director nodded but uncertainly added,

"The recording is fine, but I'm not sure it will convey what we're hearing when it airs on TV. In 20 years of filming performances, I've never encountered sound this challenging to capture. I'm not even sure this is music."

The PD murmured worriedly while looking at the stage,

"A performance like this being free, it's something people should pay to see. Ah, this might be the biggest crisis of my PD career. How well I convey the greatness of this performance to the viewers will be the measure of my ability."

>

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