Appeal for Korean Lyrist Hong Chang Kim

Dear friends in our worldwide lyre movement,

My name is Miranda Markgraf, and I am a eurythmist of Korean descent, currently living in Berlin. I am writing today to ask for the help of our colleagues throughout the world to support the Korean lyre teacher and anthroposophic music therapist Hong Chang Kim. 

Hong Chang Kim with a student in His Music Therapy studio

Those who have attended previous international conferences may remember Hong Chang Kim. And some of you may have heard that he suffered a grave misfortune at the turn of the year in South Korea. Due to a defect in the heating system of the monastery where Hong Chang spent New Year's Eve, he suffered severe carbon monoxide poisoning and third-degree burns. He fell into a coma for 10 days. We are relieved and grateful that he is awake again, but even today he is still in a sensitive condition and is hospitalized in a Seoul hospital. His condition requires around-the-clock care and there are still several surgeries and skin transplants ahead of him. So far, only a part of the burned skin and muscle tissue has been removed. Hong Chang Kim can barely speak or move at the moment. Due to a stroke last year, he is already under both physical and financial strain. Hong Chang’s visit to the Buddhist temple where the tragic accident occurred also has a lyre history, as Hong Chang taught the monk of the monastery to play the lyre when he was still a child monk…..

Hong Chang Kim with Lyre Colleagues, including Susanne Reinhold on the left

I, myself, have had professional and private contact with Mr Kim for about two years, but colleagues Susanne Reinhold and Joachim Lentz have known him for a much longer time and have shared the following history of Hong Chang’s work with the lyre.

Hong Chang became acquainted with the lyre when he came into contact with anthroposophy and Waldorf education through introductory seminars for Waldorf education in South Korea. To learn more, he traveled to Germany, learned the language, brought his small family to Germany, and studied both Waldorf education and anthroposophical music therapy. The lyre became increasingly important to him. He traveled to Wolfgang Friebe for lessons, attended lyre meetings, and visited Pär Ahlboom in Sweden. The lyre became his main instrument. Back in Korea, he set up a small lyre school, represented
lyre instruments from Sweden in Korea, later worked intensively with Horst Nieder, and organised many workshops with teachers from Germany, such as Pär Ahlbom, Andreas Lehmann, Susanne Heinz, and Susanne Reinhold. 

Students at Youth Lyre Conference

Hong Chang Kim and Joachim Lentz at International Youth Conference

He taught many groups of children, introducing them to the pentatonic children’s lyre in a very lively way that inspired them to take up the chromatic lyre, so that he was able to take them on trips to lyre conferences, e.g. to Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic, to Haus Arild in Germany, and to Jeju, an island in South Korea. At Haus Arild, a boarding school for socially handicapped children run by lyrist Joachim Lentz, Hong Chang brought 7-8 well-prepared young lyre players to join in a youth lyre conference in both 2017 and 2018, creating, in this way, an international atmosphere in the boarding school so that the local students, some also coming with Martin Tobiassen, could experience that there were young lyre players on the other side of the world...

Hong Chang Kim and Martin Tobiassen at International Youth Conference

Here follow two videos from these occasions with Hong Chang conducting his students, who had prepared these pieces to share with the German friends at Haus Arild. 

Hong Chang leading youth lyrists Video #1
Hong Chang leading youth lyrists Video #2

Hong Chang Kim with Susanne Reinhold and Korean Colleague

Hong Chang later combined a music therapy training program with the lyre impulse in collaboration with Susanne Reinhold, led two students to an external degree under the umbrella of the Musiktherapeutische Arbeitsstätte Berlin, and finally completed a four-year further training course in music therapy with seven students last summer, which is currently undergoing the recognition process at iARTe.

Local friends and colleagues in South Korea visit Hong Chang regularly. They raised some money to maintain Maria Music Therapy Room in Seoul. A colleague, the Waldorf teacher Ms. LangJoo Park, is carrying a large part of his care privately. But unfortunately, it's not enough. Since there is no statutory health insurance in Korea and medical costs, operations, medication, care, and hospitalization have to be paid privately, Mr. Kim and those close to him who feel responsible are now facing increasing costs.

It is difficult to forecast the future, but it’s very probable that the treatments in the hospital need to continue for several months and Mr. Kim's medical costs are currently of around 7,000 euros per month. The monthly rent for his Maria music therapy room is close to 1,100 euros. So the costs are currently at 16,200 euros for this January and February. When March is over, it is estimated to be around 24,300 euros. 

We are reaching out to the world lyre community to consider joining us to support this devoted lyre teacher and anthroposophic music therapist to whatever extent you are inspired and able.

In the U.S., all donations will be collected until March 30th in the donation account of the Lyre Association of North America which will then send the collected funds to the German account where 100% will be passed on to Mr. Hong Chang Kim in Korea. Depending on the current situation, we will either end the fundraising campaign or continue it if necessary. In any case, we will keep you informed about the progress. 

If you would like a donation receipt, please include your full donor address in the intended purpose when making the transfer, in addition to the keywords "Help for Hong Chang Kim".

Dear friends, please forward this information to anyone who may be interested to help. Hong Chang had many plans to bring new impulses from anthroposophy to Korea: the lyre, music therapy, singing therapy, external applications, death culture - all linked with the great desire to create a basis for anthroposophic medicine in Korea and to work together with it.

Let us hope that he will be able – at least in a reduced form – to continue working on these impulses.

Thank you very much and best regards, 
Miranda Markgraf and friends of Hong Chang Kim