{"id":116867,"date":"2025-08-20T09:30:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T13:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=116867"},"modified":"2025-08-20T11:52:35","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T15:52:35","slug":"interview-cellist-daniel-hamin-go-releases-debut-album-arirang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/08\/20\/interview-cellist-daniel-hamin-go-releases-debut-album-arirang\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Cellist Daniel Hamin Go Releases His Debut Album Arirang"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_116871\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-116871\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-116871\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Copy_of_INTERVIEW_26.jpg\" alt=\"Cellist Daniel Hamin Go (Photo courtesy of the artist)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Copy_of_INTERVIEW_26.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Copy_of_INTERVIEW_26-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Copy_of_INTERVIEW_26-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Copy_of_INTERVIEW_26-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-116871\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cellist Daniel Hamin Go (Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>From Belgium back to Toronto, cellist Daniel Hamin Go turned to music in the wake of a tragedy. The result is an atmospheric album about love, loss, and survival.<\/p>\n<p>Go\u2019s debut album is titled Arirang. For it, he\u2019s curated eight works that stretch across six centuries and the globe \u2014 united by themes with universal dimensions. Among familiar and less familiar composers from Marin Marais to Caroline Shaw, Go has commissioned two works by Canadian composers Iman Habibi (Iranian-Canadian) and Anna Pidgorna (Ukrainian-Canadian).<\/p>\n<p>The album was recorded at the Isabel Bader Centre and CBC&#8217;s Glenn Gould Studio with producer Martha de Francisco, and along with Go on cello, the album features the performances of Benjamin Smith on piano, Jonathan Stuchbery on the theorbo, The Gil Ensemble, and Yemel Philharmonic Society.<\/p>\n<p>The album&#8217;s journey begins with Arirang for Cello &amp; Piano, a track that was released on August 15 in recognition of the 80th Liberation Day of Korea.<\/p>\n<p>Arirang \u2014 Echoes of Liberation | Korean Folk Song (\uad11\ubcf5 80\uc8fc\ub144 \uae30\ub150 \uc5f0\uc8fc):<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5nbYM2hqkdE?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Arirang is a Korean folk song, one that expresses a gamut of emotions from pure delight to lamentation.<\/p>\n<p>Korea\u2019s 80th Liberation Day inspired the central themes of the album. Those themes have a universal scope, with a core of preserving our humanity, something that becomes even more important in times of war and oppression.<\/p>\n<p>The album will be released in full on Orchid Classics on September 26, with additional advance singles that will likewise mark significant dates:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>September 2: 80th anniversary of the end of WWII \u2014 Grief Cycles by Anna Pidgorna<\/li>\n<li>September 16: <a href=\"https:\/\/amnesty.ca\/human-rights-news\/what-happened-to-jina-mahsa-amini\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mahsa Amini<\/a>&#8216;s birthday (honouring the Woman, Life, Freedom movement) \u2014 Blood Moon by Iman Habibi<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On October 6, to mark the Korean Thanksgiving, the music video for Echoes of Arirang, the title track, will be released.<\/p>\n<p>\u202dIt\u2019s part of Go\u2019s wish to combine his music with message and meaning.<\/p>\n<h2>Daniel Hamin Go<\/h2>\n<p>Daniel first picked up a cello at age 12, and as he pulled the bow across the open C, he felt the instrument\u2019s resonance throughout his body. Today, Daniel performs on a performs on a cello made by Antonio &amp; Rafaelle Gagliano, Naples ca. 1830, generously on loan by CANIMEX INC., from Drummondville (Quebec), Canada.<\/p>\n<p>His background in music spans five countries, six institutions, and two continents, including studying as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2022\/12\/02\/scrutiny-rebanks-family-fellowship-concert-superlative-evening-music-making\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rebanks Family Fellowship<\/a> at Toronto\u2019s Royal Conservatory of Music, and;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Artist-in-Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in the UK;<\/li>\n<li>AdDip at the Royal Academy of Music in the UK;<\/li>\n<li>MMus at the Hochschule f\u00fcr Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin;<\/li>\n<li>BMus at the Manhattan School of Music.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>He\u2019s performed in Europe and North America, including at the Berliner Philharmonie, Cadogan, Carnegie Hall, Flagey Studios, and Konzerthaus Berlin.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_116873\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-116873\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-116873\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Daniel-Hamin-Go-.lowres.-C2A9-Foppe-Schut-_FS_2308.jpg\" alt=\"Cellist Daniel Hamin Go (Photo: Foppe Schutt)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Daniel-Hamin-Go-.lowres.-C2A9-Foppe-Schut-_FS_2308.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Daniel-Hamin-Go-.lowres.-C2A9-Foppe-Schut-_FS_2308-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Daniel-Hamin-Go-.lowres.-C2A9-Foppe-Schut-_FS_2308-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Daniel-Hamin-Go-.lowres.-C2A9-Foppe-Schut-_FS_2308-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-116873\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cellist Daniel Hamin Go (Photo: Foppe Schutt)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Daniel Hamin Go: The Interview<\/h3>\n<p>Daniel has been a frequent performer in various ensembles in Toronto and at area festivals. But, the cellist and composer was in the UK when the genesis of the album really began as a series of setbacks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn 2021, April, I was living in London, England at the time,\u201d he recalls. He got a call from his sister, who was living in Toronto with their parents. All he could hear was beeping, and turmoil in the background.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI heard my father dying on the phone,\u201d he says. His father had fallen ill with COVID.<\/p>\n<p>Go had intended on completing a residency in Belgium, but a few months into that residency, there were issues, including lack of financial support<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was one of the greatest experiences that I\u2019d had, and I had to give it up,\u201d he says. The loss didn\u2019t come easily. \u201cI was very angry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He returned to Toronto, to his mother and the apartment where he\u2019d lived with his family. It drew him closer to his mother and her own story, including that of her grandmother growing up in Korea during the Japanese occupation, and around the time it became a divided state.<\/p>\n<p>His maternal grandmother grew up during the period of Japanese occupation in Korea (1910 until 1945). \u201cShe was forbidden to learn Korean,\u201d Daniel says. \u201cShe was orphaned by the age of seven.\u201d of seven.\u201d His\u00a0maternal grandfather came south from what is now North Korea \u2013 days after arriving, the war broke out, and the borders remained shut forever.<\/p>\n<p>His father was born when his paternal grandmother was 18, and she had to leave him in the care of his older brother so she could scrounge for food.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel began to understand how the trauma had been passed down the generations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a combination of trauma that I had lived through in my life, because of the trauma of my family,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>It led to a change of perspective. This realization came after moving back to Toronto, and recognizing that the state of the world \u2014 that the pain wasn&#8217;t just internal. It was echoing across the world. \u201cI said, wait a second, I\u2019m not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Along with family history, there is enough trauma going on in the real world to overwhelm any individual. It led him to research and study the work of composers who dealt with those concepts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy message went from I\u2019m angry, and I want justice, to but we need to accept this \u2014 but as artists,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI need to find a way to challenge this as an artist.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The Music<\/h3>\n<p>His research led him to an array of Western composers from the early 1700s to the present.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a big believer that right now, in the state of where classical music is \u2014 cultural importance, relevance \u2014 I wanted this album to include as many people as possible,\u201d he says. \u201cFor every single piece I\u2019ve curated a narrative, a story.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He says, listened to in sequence, each track has a kind of hook point to the next. Go begins with Marais and the Baroque because of the era\u2019s purity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything had to be beautiful,\u201d he says. Even grief. \u201cIn this piece, there are so many dissonances,\u201d he adds. But, you have to listen carefully as the overtones clash and then resolve themselves.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe 600 year-old music really is the Arirang, the folk song,\u201d he explains. There are many versions of the song, and the earliest record of it dates back to the mid-1300s or so during the Joseon dynasty.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are thousands of variations,\u201d he says. As he explains, the struggles of the mountainous region are different than those of the lowlands. And so, the song adapted. The melodies vary according to region.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the so-called best known version,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>The track was expensive. Go participated in commissioning the work, and he commissioned several arrangements of the centuries-old song. It was only a month before the recording session he\u2019d already booked that he finally came upon the one he wanted. The final version was created by Go in collaboration with two other arrangers located halfway across the world.<\/p>\n<h3>Canadian Commissions: Pidgorna and Habibi<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cWhen the escalation of war took place in 2022, I had a classmate at a time who travelled back and forth to teach in Ukraine,\u201d Go says. That friend would find themselves stuck in Ukraine for months due to the fighting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe history of the Ukraine, and the history of Korea, [&#8230;] we share very similar histories,\u201d he notes. \u201cYou have to be very careful with choosing repertoire. I had to be very careful that I\u2019m not using other people\u2019s culture \u2014 I\u2019m not using their pain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Anna Pidgorna\u2019s commissioned piece Grief Cycles is a series of variations on another old folk song, Plyve Kacha Po Tysyni, or A Duckling Swims In The Tysyni, which has become an anthem for war protesters in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Iman\u2019s piece Bood Moon was inspired by the death of Mahsa Amini three years ago. The young Kurdish woman was killed by Iranian police for not wearing her hijab correctly. The murder sparked public outrage, and a large protest movement in Iran called Woman Life Freedom.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the moment, I only have two female family members,\u201d Daniel points out, being his mother and sister. \u201cI think that if we really talk about oppression and justice [&#8230;] I don\u2019t think that fight should ever stop,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing is ours to claim anymore, unless we\u2019re actively fighting to make it better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Music and activism go hand in hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the midst of all this war, I need to do something for my mother, my sister.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Recording The Album<\/h3>\n<p>Go had assembled fellow musicians <strong>Ben Smith<\/strong>, a pianist, and <strong>Jonathan Stuchbery<\/strong> for theorbo for the album. <strong>Yemel Philharmonic Society<\/strong> is an amateur Korean-Canadian choir. They began with 14 members for the recording date.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUntil a day before the recording session, me and my friend who is the director of Yemel choir, which is a Korean choir based in Toronto, we were writing to everyone we could think of to please come and spare us three hours,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n<p>They ended up with about 40 choir members in the end.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>Gil Ensemble<\/strong> is Go\u2019s creation, an ensemble largely made up of students from either the Glenn Gould School or the University of Toronto.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey all just came and did this for pennies,\u201d he said. The financial aspect is not one he\u2019s happy about. \u201cI was profusely apologetic.\u201d He also supplied catering, beer and wine for the recording session.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Gil \u2014 actually, in Korean, gil means the way or the path. It also happens to be the second character of my father\u2019s name,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n<p>Blending his Korean heritage into Western art music is a way forward that respects both traditions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s the younger generation of classical musician,\u201d he says. \u201cWe are going to show the way to a better future.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>The Album<\/h2>\n<p>The track list includes works and composers who inspired Daniel with their ability to turn their own difficulties and even despair into beautiful music:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Marin Marais (1656-1728): Suite in D Major, No. 63 \u2014 Les Voix Humaines<\/li>\n<li>Caroline Shaw (b.1982): In Manus Tuas<\/li>\n<li>Ernest Bloch (1880-1959): From Jewish Life, B.54 (I Prayer)<\/li>\n<li>Anna Pidgorna (b.1985): Grief Cycles \u2014 Variations on \u201cPlyve Kacha Po Tysyni\u201d for Cello &amp; Piano<\/li>\n<li>Ernest Bloch: From Jewish Life, B.54 (II Supplication)<\/li>\n<li>Iman Habibi (b.1985): Blood Moon<\/li>\n<li>Ernest Bloch: From Jewish Life, B.54 (III Jewish Song)<\/li>\n<li>Franz Schubert (1797-1828): Lob der Tr\u00e4nen, D.711<\/li>\n<li>Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Sonata for Cello &amp; Piano, L. 135 (I Prologue, II S\u00e9r\u00e9nade, III Finale)<\/li>\n<li>Taran Plamondon (b.1995) &amp; Daniel Hamin Go (b.1996): Echoes of Arirang \u2014 Album Version<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Find the album for sale after September 26 [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.orchidclassics.com\/releases\/orc100397-arirang\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/strong>].<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Are you looking to promote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\"><u>event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? Have a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/masthead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>news tip<\/u><\/a>? Need to know the best\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/events\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>events<\/u><\/a>\u00a0happening this weekend? Send us a\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><a href=\"mailto:anya@ludwig-van.com?subject=Let's%20chat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><em><u>note<\/u>.<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><em><b>#LUDWIGVAN<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n<p class=\"western\"><em>Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><em>Sign up for the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! \u2014 local classical music and opera news straight to your inbox <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/583e6ce0-dfd0-48be-8a33-61256b3c58e3.mlbtlr.com\/p2\/Fbd8jWoWQQ6CdBcLIvut3Q\/02E3cYaETqaj4Xm087cpSg?contactid=S3HHYfHY5rZv5f94S15MnA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/583e6ce0-dfd0-48be-8a33-61256b3c58e3.mlbtlr.com\/p2\/Fbd8jWoWQQ6CdBcLIvut3Q\/02E3cYaETqaj4Xm087cpSg?contactid%3DS3HHYfHY5rZv5f94S15MnA&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1695737525351000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0QTqKRwRJQFGK3KoJYigxX\">HERE<\/a>.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cellist Daniel Hamin Go turned to music in the wake of a tragedy. The result is an atmospheric album about love, loss, and survival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":116871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[41660,75,9,10,77,18,78,29,81,51,63],"tags":[41017],"yst_prominent_words":[7004,14015,10652,19584,14713,6616],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Copy_of_INTERVIEW_26.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-uoX","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116867"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116867"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116912,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116867\/revisions\/116912"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116867"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=116867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}