Ajumma power

Lee Gyeong-sun, a 45-year-old housewife who lives in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, left home at 9 a.m. on Dec. 9 and headed for the Seoul Arts Center in Gangnam. The trip on the subway, which took an hour and 40 minutes, was all for pleasure. In the company of four friends, Ms. Lee burbled, “It feels like I am returning to my schoolgirl days in music classes.” She and her friends ― in Korea housewives with children are called ajummas ― are not alone. The Seoul Arts Center’s new mid-day program of light opera and familiar classical music is drawing crowds of middle-aged women from well beyond Seoul. For weeks, the Concert Hall at the arts center has been close to standing-room-only for the performances. Before the concerts begin, small groups of women gather in the lobby, chatting not about music, but about how their children are doing in school, about TV soap operas and shopping. Most are well-dressed with fresh hairdos and make-up on. After the ajummas find their seats, the hall falls silent. As the music begins, the women become intent. Between the pieces, they are hesitatant in their applause uncertain when exactly to clap. The atmosphere is cozy and comfortable. The selections of the classical pieces are all familiar, nothing extraordinary, and some of the ladies slowly move their heads to the melodies. “It’s ajumma power,” says Lee Sang-mi, a publicist with the Seoul Arts Center. “News of the concerts spread by word of mouth so fast that nearly all seats are booked. There are even some people who have come every second Thursday of the month since the concert began in September.” On the day Ms. Lee went, the Korean Symphony and the Ansan-Goyang Municipal Choir took the stage and played Ferde Grofe’s “Grand Canyon Suite” and snippets from Verdi’s opera “Nabucco.” After the first session finished at 12 p.m., the audience broke for a 20-minute brunch of pastry and coffee. The second part of the performance started with Dvorak’s “New World Symphony,” and after series of encores, the concert ended at 1: 15 p.m. The women stay behind for a while after the curtain fell chatting about the concert and exchanging gossip. The scene has grown quickly in popularity. When the Seoul Arts Center started the events on Sept. 9 this year, 951 tickets were sold at center’s Music House. In December, ticket sales had doubled to more than 1,900. A housewife in her 30s who lives in Seocho-dong said, “The Seoul Arts Center is really close by, but because I am always tied to chores in the evening, I haven’t been able to find the time to go to a concert.” Now all that has changed, and she is elated about the morning recitals. The idea to offer an 11 a.m. concert was proposed by Kim Yong-bae, who became the president of the Seoul Arts Center in May. Mr. Kim, a pianist and former professor of music, offeres an introduction to the music. The repertoire for each concert is personally picked by Mr. Kim and whoever is conducting the orchestra and symphony on the day. Mr. Kim said, “We wanted to give joy by providing live musical performance to people culturally deprived and who don’t have the time to attend concerts in the evening.” The performances have generated “11 a.m. concert social clubs.” Some elderly couples are also part of the scene, but most concertgoers are housewives. Tickets cost 15,000 won ($14), which is a moderate price compared to what evening concerts cost. The Music House, which houses the Concert Hall and the Recital Hall, will undergo renovation from January to May next year, but the 11 a.m. concert will continue in the Opera House within the Arts Center. by Lee Jang-jik, Choi Jie-ho