The members of Ensemble Ari / Courtesy of Ensemble Ari

"Ari" is a Korean word with multiple meanings: big river, wisdom and beauty. San Francisco-based Ensemble Ari is a group of Korean American musicians who aim to share these qualities with the community. As this year marks their 10th anniversary, the members of the group are delighted to perform in Korea for the first time in various venues across the country this summer.

Their first concert in Seoul is scheduled at Ilshin Hall on June 28. In addition, the quintet has been selected to join the weekly classical festival run by Meg Classic, performing at Meg Art Hall in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, June 30. For this concert, all explanations will be given in English. The ensemble members are bilingual in Korean and English and hope to reach new listeners based in Korea through this opportunity.

For these concerts, the ensemble will showcase works by Korean composers they have collaborated with over the past decade, along with a romantic gem — Schumann's Piano Quartet in E-flat major.

The featured composers include Jungyoon Wie and Michael Lee, who reside in California, and Cho Sun-hee Cho and Kang Jong-hee, who are currently based in Seoul but have studied in the United States. The performances will include several world or Korean premieres.

A highlight of the performances will be the encore piece, "Gangwondo Arirang," which was arranged for this specific concert. The conductor will invite the audience to participate in the jangdan (rhythmic pattern).

"We are one of the very few Korean American ensembles that receives major U.S. grants to commission Korean composers. We are all bilingual, and we inform our audiences in Korean or English with brief lectures between each piece. We have been doing various collaborations over the years — with gayageum, with haegeum, with choir, opera singers, visual artists, Renaissance musicians and Berkeley poetry group," director and composer Jean Ahn told Korea Times.

Ahn was born in Korea and completed her bachelor's and master's at Seoul National University and her doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley. Her creative output includes works ranging from solo instruments to full orchestra, as well as choral, dance and electroacoustic music. She is currently writing a new piece based on Korean pansori (traditional musical storytelling) for Red Cedar in Iowa. She is a lecturer at UC Berkeley and also teaches special needs students at CHIM Studio for the Arts.

"Some of us knew each other from the past, played together in concerts here and there, but we were not a formed ensemble. We realized over a decade ago that we should form a group of professional Korean American musicians who care about quality music, the community and promoting music by living composers. As classically trained musicians, we typically perform Western music, but as Koreans, we want to represent the beauty of Korea."

The ensemble debuted in October 2014 when they performed a benefit concert for the SF Presidio's Korean War Memorial. Since then, Ensemble Ari has been featured at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Saint Mary's College, University of the Pacific, Art Share L.A., Old First Concert Series and Maybeck Series, among others.

The poster for one of Ensemble Ari's shows in Korea

"When we first started the ensemble, we noticed that concerts with Korean performers were predominantly attended by Korean audience members. We wanted to change this," Ahn said. "We performed in various concert series around the Bay Area and also at numerous universities. With our unique programming, including both new works and premieres as well as standard classical chamber repertoire, more organizations and schools started to invite us. We were able to draw in a larger audience, from the young college-aged listener to the seasoned concertgoer. Some who were only accustomed to listening to Romantic or classical chamber music were now intrigued and interested in new works by living composers."

Cellist Sarah Hong, who studied at the Juilliard School and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, shared that her friends love Ari because of the way the concerts are programmed.

"We brainstorm thematic ideas for concerts together: all-women composers, Black composers, medieval and early Baroque composers. Our pianist even played on a harpsichord!" she said. "The amazing thing about us is that it's more like chemistry and also friendship. As chamber musicians, these elements are more crucial than mere technical skill. Our relationship has evolved into a sisterhood, forming unity despite our different backgrounds. This bond has kept us together for 10 years."

The Korean Times asked Hong what she saw as the group's challenge. She answered, "The fact that we are all mothers is a challenge but is also our strength."

Visit fb.com/EnsembleAri for more information or finestage.co.kr/classic/?idx=116 for tickets.

Bereket Alemayehu is an Ethiopian photo artist, social activist and writer based in Seoul. He's also the co-founder of Hanokers, a refugee-led social initiative and freelance contributor for Pressenza Press Agency.