Han Terra (Korean: 한테라; born March 30, 1982) is a South Korean-born inventor, composer and musician. She was a child prodigy and was performing by age 6 as a Korean kayageum player beginning her training at the age of 4. She has invented a 24-stringed musical instrument called TeRra incorporating artificial intelligence. Han is the first and the youngest individual kayageum musician of Blanchette Rockefeller Fund and who had a debut in the Carnegie Hall in New York City. She was admitted a voting member of the Grammy Awards of The Recording Academy as few East Asian traditional musicians. Han has been appointed as a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She is known to be a polymath in the areas of music, instruments, arts, dance, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, history, literature, writing, journals, fashion, design, technology, science and aesthetics. She has mastered the Eastern traditional arts singing and dancing accompanied with the Western Classical Music, and has been performing globally since.
Name and genealogy Han was born in Seoul, South Korea. Her birth name was Laesuk ("Advent of Goodness" or "Goddess"). She got the Buddhist name 'Myeong-wol' (명월; 明月), which means 'bright moon', from a Buddhist priest in her teens. Han also uses the pseudonym Dan-young (단영; 澶濴). She adopted the name 'TeRra' based on the name of the earth goddess Terra in the 2000s. Han is a member of the Cheongju Han clan family. The clan is well-known for a long tradition of the women members of royal consorts produced the largest numbers of 16 queens in Korean history. Her maternal grandmother's family was in the fashion and textile business and moved from Japan to Korea in the late 1920s.
Early life Her initial ambition was to become a pianist taken piano lesson at age of 4, and she won the National Students Musical Competition at age of 6. She began to study Korean traditional music at age 6 and won the National Music Competition of Korea at age 8. She trained in the Korean heritable dance traditions such as National intangible heritage No. 46. Salpuri, court dance Chunaeng-jeon and Buchae-chum, Ipchum under Eunhee Song. Han considered a career in journalism or as a medical doctor. She was also cast for the main role of an independent film which was featured in a film festival of Seoul National University in 2002. South Korean journalist Byung-Wook Jang interviewed Han and published the interviews in the book Gifted, TeRra in 2015.
Education Han trained East Asian traditional performing arts at the prestigious institutes. She studied Korean traditional performing arts forms at National Gugak Middle and High School which is one of Korean government subsidiaries of National Gugak Center. She obtained a PhD degree as well as B.A and M.A degrees in music from Seoul National University under Kim Il Ryun, Chae-suk Lee, and Jeongja Kim. She researched traditional East Asian performing arts at Tokyo University of the Arts, Central Conservatory of Music, and Yanbian University. Especially, Han was trained in other East Asian zither traditions, including the Japanese Koto, Shamisen, the Chinese Guzheng, and the Indian Sitar. Through her research stints in Japan and China, Han acquired a deeper understanding of the Pan-Asian musical heritage. She took lessons in Japanese Koto of Ikuta school under the professor Ando Masateru at Tokyo University of the Arts and Chinese Guzheng, North Korea and Yanbian province Kayageum under Xingsan Jin, China National Intangible Cultural Heritage No.1083 at the Yanbian University and studied their traditional other performing art forms such as Japanese traditional dance and singing. In addition, she studied Indian Sitar with Daisy Paradis in New York. Han speaks Korean, Japanese, Chinese, English, French, and Italian.
Music career Active as a concerto soloist since age 12, Han collaborated with music orchestras such as Seoul Metropolitan Korean Music Orchestra, National Orchestra of Korea, Jeonju Korean Music Orchestra, Daejeon Korean Music Orchestra with conductors such as Jaewon Lim, Pyeonryong Lim, and Sangil Han. Han has been performing solo recitals in venues such as Sejong Center, National Korean Music Center, Suginami Public Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York City. Han was a charter kayageum player of the National Traditional Music Youth Orchestra of Korea in 2003, and became the youngest Kayageum player of the Seongnam Municipal Korean Classical Music Orchestra. Presently, she is a member of the Asian Zither's Association. She is a member of Asian Musicology.
Korean royal music traditions Han recorded Korean all royalty's music repertoires of kayageum solo version as the first kayageum soloist following her Cheongju Han family tradition. The recording collection is composed of 5 series of full version, published by separately Korean Broad Casting FM, Poly Music and distributed by Recording Industry Association of Korea. The music collection includes Yeo Min Lak (People of the joy composed by King Sejonog), Chuita, Ut-dodeuri, Mit-dodeuri, Bo Heo Sa, Young San Hue Sang, Kagok, etc.. TeRra Han trained Korean royalty's music, all pieces under Jeongja Kim at Seoul National University and National Gugak middle and high school in Korea.
Compositions Han's first composition happened at age of 8, it was published in her elementary school's annual journal. She was already arranging piano pieces to kayageum when she was early child ages such as by Mozart, Bach. She also wrote the choreography for Buru, a composition by Sukhi Kang. Han started release of her own compositions since 2016, the composition is 'Viola Code No. 1', it was inspired by the French poet Charles Baudelaire & Korean Sanghwa Lee, it was world premiered by French violist Erwan Richard on her recital celebrating 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and Korea. The second composition is 'Piano Code No. 1' inspired by arts work 'Wind of the Ancient Times' (2010, terra cotta) by Insu Choi, the piece was worked premiered by herself with kayageum arranged gallery art link 2016. She learned composing by herself, however influenced by Sukhi Kang, Pierre Boulez, she mentioned composing was devotion, not intended.
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