Yoonseok was a student of Sigmund Groven, who was on the podcast in episode 127
Yoonseok is from Incheon in South Korea, and spent time in Norway studying with Sigmund
Had lessons on piano before taking up harmonica around the age of 9 after attending an event at a local community centre
Liked the portability and the variety of tone colours of the harmonica
The harmonica is very popular in South Korea, but mainly as a hobby, with not many professional players due to a lack of university courses
Yoonseok has a good following in his country due to the popularity of the instrument, with Koreans associating the instrument with something nostalgic
The origin of the harmonica in Korea is associated with the saenghwang free reed instrument
First harmonica Yoonseok played was the tremolo, which is the most popular type of harmonica in South Korea
Tremolo is used to play folk music much of the time in South Korea
Yoonseok is mainly a chromatic player now, but still plays the tremolo when teaching beginners as the tremolo is popular in South Korea due to it’s lower price
Tremolo has some similarities to the chromatic, in that it is good for playing melodies
Yoonseok speaks very good English
First discovered the chromatic harmonica when attending the Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival, which happens every two years
Attended his first Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival in Hong Kong in 2004, where saw Sigmund Groven performing
Didn’t know there were other types of harmonica besides the tremolo until went to that festival on 2004
Was starstruck by Sigmund and wrote fan emails to him when he went back to Norway but Sigmund didn’t receive them as he used the wrong email address
When Sigmund returned to South Korea in 2012 Yoonseok was able to take some lessons with him
Sigmund returned to South Korea several times where Yoonseok took some lessons with him and performed with him on stage
Went to study with Sugmund in Norway in 2018
Studied composition and music theory at Seoul National University, graduating with top honours in 2017
There were no teachers to study the chromatic harmonica in South Korea so initially self-taught
Musicology course at Seoul National University didn’t involve harmonica playing, although still played as a freelance harmonica player at that time
Studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo for two years, the first harmonica player to study there, with Sigmund as his main professor
The long application process to be accepted at the Norwegian Academy of Music
The chromatic was the sole instrument Yoonseok played at the academy in Norway
Had weekly lessons with Sigmund who had Yoonseok work hard to improve his playing
Yoonseok focused on the basics to really improve his playing when studying with Sigmund
Sigmund emphasised the importance of making a good legato to Yoonseok
The course in Norway lasted two years in the cold weather!
Was working as a freelance musicians in South Korea before studying in Norway, so travelled back from Norway to continue that work while studying there
Is 33 years old and completed studies in Norway in 2020, just as the Covid pandemic struck
Still travels back to Norway every year since 2017 for a harmonica summer camp which he teaches at alongside Sigmund, and performed in Oxford, UK, earlier in 2025
Based mainly back in South Korea since 2020, also playing in Japan sometimes
Arranges much of the music he records on the chromatic as not too much music written for the instrument
How Yoonseok arranges music for the chromatic harmonica includes using the piano and adapting piano scores to work with the chromatic
Is the soloist when performing with orchestras and ensembles
First album released in 2022: The Beginning, contains 24 songs in a mixture of genres
Composed three of the songs on The Beginning album
Plays some Tommy Reilly pieces, such as Serenade
Second album, Harmonica Recitals, is well known classical pieces from various composers
Some of the pieces selected which work well with the chromatic harmonica
Chooses repertoire carefully depending on the concert and the audience and music enjoys himself
Performs regularly with orchestras and uses amplification to make the chromatic heard, and to use a little reverb
Uses mic on a stand and leaves the choice of the mic to the sound engineer
Breathe naturally to project the sound of the chromatic, don’t squeeze the breath to force the sound
Played with orchestras around the world and how audiences reactions can differ between countries
YouTube channel has some live performances and music videos recorded by Yoonseok
Self-promotion and marketing is critical in the modern era, with Yoonseok having to do much of it himself
Toured Japan in June 2025 to launch the Harmonica Recitals album there
Was featured on KBS radio in South Korea to profile the chromatic harmonica
The balance of playing the chromatic repertoire and introducing new music for the instrument
Performs music often with a harp, which Tommy Reilly also recorded with Skaila Kanga
Yoonseok is working with some contemporary composers in South Korea who have written pieces for the chromatic
Will be the first ever South Korean judge at the World Harmonica Festival in Trossingen this year, and is performing there with Sigmund’s pianist
Playing slow on the chromatic can be more challenging than playing fast
Recently named a Hohner Global artist
Plays the Hohner Silver Concerto and the Polle chromatic (which is no longer being made)
Does some basic maintenance himself on the Polle chromatics but for anything more involved sends to Norway
Only plays other types of harmonicas once a year when demonstrating them at workshops for children
Does play the chromatic in a harmonica ensemble
Embouchre is tongue blocking
Mics and amplification just leaves to the sound engineer with no idea himself!
Future plans include maybe an album with classical guitar, pipe organ or string quartet
Gives private lessons and published a method book and score book for chromatic harmonica, but only available in Korean language at the moment
