Next stop: Daegu, Korea’s third-largest city, for the opening of the World Orchestra Festival. The hall was stunning, and this concert was extra special: it’s HaeSun’s hometown. She brought quite a fan club with her, and you could feel it right away. Before rehearsal, I took the chance to sit at the piano and improvise for a moment, just to soak in the beautiful acoustics.
A funny detail: the concert started at 5 p.m., that awkward time when you’ve either eaten too early or go on stage hungry. But despite the travel and the odd schedule, the energy was through the roof. The orchestra keeps growing with every concert, and once again, the audience treated us like pop stars. It was the opening concert of their “World Orchestras” series, and we were in excellent company.
Afterwards came a five-hour drive back to Seoul. When we finally got to the hotel (the same one from our first night of the tour), I suddenly remembered the luxurious massage chair in the gym. I sat down, let the robot arms do their magic, and melted into pure bliss. The perfect ending to a long, incredible day.
