Sungha Jung: From YouTube to live stage

From a cute little kid with a guitar to a dashing young musician, people who have followed the career of South Korean guitar prodigy Sungha Jung have seen him grow up right before their eyes.

 

Since his first video was uploaded on YouTube in September 2006, Jung has posted more than 600 videos, garnering some 700 million cumulative views.

 

Fingerstyle guitar

 

From the beginning, many viewers marveled at how a 10-year-old could boy play such complicated pieces.  Jung uses a difficult technique called “fingerstyle guitar,” which allows him to “play the multiple parts of a musical arrangement that would normally be played by several band members.”

 

Over the years, he gained popularity for his cover songs. He does his own musical arrangements most of the time and rarely uses published tabs or sheet music. More often than not, he simply studies video clips of performances or listens to the songs and works out the notes by himself.

 

It was only a matter of time before Jung’s talent would come to the attention of many high-profile artists. German fingerstyle musician Ulli Boegershausen has since become his mentor. He has performed with K-pop icons like 2NE1, Big Bang’s G-Dragon, and popular singer/actor Lee Seung Gi.

 

Most recently, Jung performed with Jason Mraz, who knew of him after seeing his rendition of “I’m Yours.” He was also invited to play “My Heart Will Go On” for the world launch of Titanic II.

 

Fan diversity

 

I came to know of Jung only last year, when I stumbled upon his cover of Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years." I’ve been a fan since, and I was excited to learn he would have his first Philippine solo concert in Cebu and Manila. I caught his June 15 show at the Newport Performing Arts Theater.

I was curious about what kind of fans Jung had here. I expected there would be plenty of young ladies (come on, he’s cute and he’s a guitar prodigy) and aspiring musicians (I’ve seen their cover videos of Jung’s arrangements). Generally, I expected the audience to skew toward a younger demographic, as the said youngsters are a YouTube generation.

 

I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot more diversity than that. Not only were there were older music enthusiasts; very often, the young musicians were accompanied by a parent or by entire families.  While not all of those in the audience were Jung fans, I’m pretty sure that by the time the show was finished, they were all converted.

 

Full house

 

The show opened to a full house with a front act by Filipino guitarist Alyza Barro. Barro is also a fingerstyle guitarist, and judging from the three songs she played, she is definitely another musician to watch out for.

 

Jung appeared shortly after Barro's performance to very enthusiastic applause. In the middle of the first set, he switched to the ukulele for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” theme and what was, for me, the highlight of the set: a Super Mario Bros. medley. While it wasn’t as technically difficult as the other songs, it was obvious that Jung had a lot of fun with it, and the audience reacted very positively to him.  

 

He opened the second set with an electric guitar rendition of “Canon Rock,” which was the only piece he played with any kind of accompaniment. The highlights of this set were two challenging pieces that impressed the audience in particular—a jazz number titled “All of Me” and “Bird”—and the finale, his version of the Eraserheads’ “Ang Huling El Bimbo.” He played two original songs with Alyza Barro for the encore.

 

Minimalist production

 

Jung’s 17-song set list was well-thought out. He managed to highlight his own compositions, play his more popular covers and some recent pop songs, showcase his technical skills with more complex pieces, and topped it all off with some fan service through “El Bimbo.”

 

I liked that the production design was very minimalist. It reflects the way Jung’s career has risen so far, despite his growing popularity: no frills, do-it-yourself. Aside from the equipment, the instruments, and the chair he sat on, there were no sets or props on stage. All of this gears the audience to focus on Jung’s performance, which was practically flawless. 

 

I wish the producers calibrated the video system for the onstage screens, though, because the video lagged for a few seconds. This would not normally be an issue for regular shows, but seeing as people were paying very close attention to Jung’s playing, the lag was disconcerting.

 

Seeing as everything about the show was designed to draw focus to Jung, I would’ve appreciated just a little more audience interaction. Jung mentioned the title of each of his songs before playing, but that was pretty much it as far as interaction went, except perhaps during the Super Mario medley, when he played to the audience.

 

Jung is still young, though—only 16 years old—and I’m sure, with experience, he will improve his stage presence. Perhaps he is also a bit insecure about speaking in English, which is not his native language.  The producers could have written him some short spiels, though, or provided him some talking points, and there could have been a translator on standby.  I just feel that talking a bit more about his music or his experiences with a particular song is a good way to bring himself closer to the audience and make the show feel a little more intimate.  That seems to be the kind of atmosphere the producers were going for anyway, considering the type of venue and the production design.

 

Aside from that and the problem with the video screens, overall, it was a very good show. I really enjoyed the performance, and I look forward to seeing Jung perform in person again.  In the meantime, there’s always his YouTube channel. —VC, GMA News

 

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To know more about Sungha Jung, visit his official website and his YouTube channel.

Meann Ortiz is an engineer and freelance writer. She blogs at The Girl Who Read and Other Stories.  The opinions expressed in this review is solely her own.