Sharing the lecture held on February 27, 2024.

My 인연 with a 한옥: The mythical restoration story of the Ureuk World Music House

SPEAKER: AnnA Cybele Paschke

SUMMARY:

Cybele shares a bevvy of unbelievable adventures with a Korean traditional house (hanok). Lured to teach “music” in Mokdong, victim to a traditional English hagwon horror story, Cybele escaped to the “center heart” of Korea, 忠州 Chungju, where founding father of Korean music, Master Ureuk, lived in the 5th century. One mystical coincidence leading to the next, Cybele came upon a falling down countryside lord’s hanok with a “natural stage.” Struck with a mystical vision of traditional music being played as people sat entranced in the garden courtyard, she spent 8 years saving money to acquire the house and another 10 slowly restoring it from the ground up. More than recounting ordeal by ordeal restorers the world over tell of drunken contractors and cement poured over unconnected water pipes, Cybele will also share the magical mysteries and signs she received along the way, and how the unseen world colluded to help realize her vision, fulfill her Korean “karmic duty,” and create a stage where world-famous artists eagerly come to experience the space and share the music it inspires in their hearts. This firsthand glimpse of how someone was undaunted by the calling from the center of her heart is sure to inspire.

BIO:

AnnA Cybele Paschke is the owner and founding director of the Ureuk World Music House in Chungju (충주), a global community arts center housed in her lovingly restored hanok which brings in leading musicians from around the world for intimate house concerts and artist residencies. Cybele is a musician originally from New York who has been living and teaching university English in Chungju, Korea for 20 years.