Wisconsin Gagok Ensemble
UW Hamel Music Center-Collins Recital Hall 740 University Ave., Madison, Wisconsin 53706

courtesy Wisconsin Gagok Ensemble
The three members of the Wisconsin Gagok Ensemble.
Wisconsin Gagok Ensemble
Mead Witter School of Music recital. Free.
media release: Jessica Schwefel, mezzo soprano; Youngjoo Hong, soprano; Susan Gaeddert, piano.
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Program
고향의 봄Go Hyang E Bom (Spring in Hometown ) Hong Nan-Pa (1898-1941)
봉숭아 Bong Sung Ah (Impatiens) Hong Nan-Pa
바위고개 Bah We Go Gae (Rocky Hill) Lee Heung-Rul (1909-1980)
눈 Noon (Snow) Kim Hyo-Gun (b. 1960)
그대여 내게로 Gue Dae ye Nae Gae Ro (Darling, Come to Me) Kim Lyun-Joon (1914-2008)
비단안개 Bi Dan Ahn Gae (Silky Fog) Lee Young-Jo (b. 1943)
산촌 San Chon (Mountain Village) Jo Doo-Nam (1912-1984)
가을 그리고 강물Gahl Gyrigo Gang Mul (Fall and River)———— Kim Gwang Ja (b. 1959)
내 맘의 강물 Nae Maney Gang Mul (River in my heart) Lee Soo In (1939 –2021)
보리피리 Bori Piri (Barley Flute) Jo Nyeom (1922-2008)
가을의 편지 Gaulei Pyunji (Fall Letter) Kim Lyun-Joon ( 1914–2008)
엄마야 누나야 / 섬집아기 Umma ya Nunaya / Sumgib Aggi (Mom and Sister / Baby in the Sea Shore House)
Kim Gwang-Soo (1921-1993)
Lee Heung-Rul (1909 – 1980)
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Since our founding in 2023, the Wisconsin Gagok Ensemble has been dedicated to the promotion and performance of Korean Art Song in Wisconsin and beyond. Soprano Youngjoo Hong, mezzo soprano Jessica Schwefel, and pianist Susan Gaeddert curate programs of music by 20th and 21st century Korean Art Song composers. We strive to make this art form more accessible for western audiences. We collaborate with other artists and performers to cultivate other aspects Korean and Korean American culture in our state.
Youngjoo Hong, soprano, is a dynamic musician in both the concert and teaching fields. Along with her interpretation of standard repertoire, Youngjoo is a passionate performer and advocate of contemporary and early music. She holds a Music Education degree (BM) and a Master of Music (MM) in Voice Performance from the University of Wisconsin Madison.
Her recent performance of a Korean Art Song Recital at Grace Episcopal Church in Madison was impressively received. In 2023, Youngjoo performed her solo voice recital in Seoul and Pusan, South Korea. Also, Youngjoo’s Master’s Recital at UW–Madison at the Hamel Music center in February 2020 was a huge success. Prior to entering the master’s program in UW– Madison, Youngjoo taught General Music and Choral Music in the Middleton Cross plains Area School District. As a church choir director, Youngjoo has served in the Korean Catholic Community mass for many years at the St. Paul University Center. Youngjoo maintains a private voice studio and is a member of the voice and piano faculty at Harmony Conservatory of Music in Waunakee. She is currently the Vocal Music Teacher at St. Maria Goretti Catholic School.
Dr. Susan Gaeddert is a seasoned collaborative pianist who has spent more than two decades as a professional accompanist, coach and teacher working with students of all ages as well as professionals to prepare repertoire for recitals and auditions. She has toured with Opera For The Young, taught at Edgewood College, and performed with a number of local musicians at festivals and recitals in the Madison area.
Susan holds masters degrees in Piano Performance, Pedagogy, and Collaborative Piano from UW-Madison, where she earned a doctorate in 2007 and was a winner of the Shain Competition for piano and woodwind duos. Susan recently obtained a degree in Urban/Regional Planning, and she now works as Community Programs Director for 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, an organization specializing in land use and transportation planning.
Mezzo soprano, Dr. Jessica Schwefel, is currently a Lecturer of Voice at the Mead Witter School of Music at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She has performed in over 35 operatic productions with Madison Opera, Opera for the Young, Fresco Opera Theatre, UW Opera, Music By The Lake, among others. Jessica was also a member of the Florentine Opera Chorus for over a decade, where she had been involved in a number of productions and outreach performances. Her involvement with the Florentine Opera resulted in a GRAMMY award nomination in 2020, and three GRAMMY awards in 2012 and 2013.
An accomplished solo singer, Jessica has held recent engagements with the Madison Choral Project, LunART Festival, Four Seasons Theatre, the Civic Symphony of Green Bay, Madison Bach Musicians, Present Music, Oshkosh Chamber Singers, and many more.
Jessica’s articles have been published in the VOICEPrints Journal of the NYSTA, the NATS Journal of Singing, as well as the Wisconsin School Musician (WSMA). She resides in McFarland, WI where she maintains her private voice studio, the Timman Music Studio. Jessica has taught studio voice previously at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Madison College, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and University of Wisconsin–Madison.