In a big-ticket omnibus concert with Korean artistes at Katara, last week, Qatar got a taste of the wide-ranging vocal exploits of David Dong Qyu Lee, who is fast emerging as a prolific counter-tenor of his generation.
The concert, organised by the Korean embassy, saw some of the most spectacular contemporary Korean musical talents such as Lee, pianist Sonja Park, and other Korean artistes from Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra. An award winner of numerous international competitions such as such as Francisco Vinas International Singing Competition in Barcelona, and BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, Lee is known for his diverse repertoire that ranges from baroque to contemporary to jazz to new age, and is at ease singing in operas as well as in concerts featuring many an interesting collaboration. Community caught up with Lee for a chat.


What sort of interest do you see baroque music generating today?
Nowadays, baroque music is losing its popularity, while the trendy pop music and singers are reaching new levels of fame and reach. Today, if you were to sit in the audience during a baroque music show, you would mostly find only elderly people who are into this music or are there perhaps to kill time. It’s really sad. A lot of classical musicians are trying to reach out to the popular groups to try and make this kind of music more popular. We are starting that process, now with the younger lot trickling in to the halls as well. That’s why I am expanding my repertoire from baroque to jazz and new age. I am versatile in singing from across genres. My job is to expand the scope and share the music and talent I have been given.


As a predominantly baroque singer, do you feel like including other genres in your repertoire goes against the grain?
Juggling genres can be very risky because there are a lot of specialists who come in and don’t take me seriously sometimes. But who are they to say anyway? We don’t even know what musicians did in baroque times. Do we have any witnesses from the 18th century? Maybe there were some jazz musicians who were trying to experiment back then. We are now in the 21st century and we need to be more open. Pure classical music is beautiful. We shouldn’t forget where the music really came from. For us, we are trying to share whatever we have. That’s the most important thing.


Of late, musically, what are the sorts of experiments you are engaging in? 
There is a French conductor, Jean Christoph Spinosi, who has an ensemble and is also a virtuoso violinist himself. He experiments with various genres; rock, jazz, blues, baroque, romantic music. I collaborate with him a lot and I learn a lot. It’s so much fun and people very much seem to enjoy it. I think we shouldn’t be reacting to music, like – oh, that’s not correct. There’s nothing that’s wrong or right.


What’s your barometer for good music then?
Good music is honest. It’s all about honesty and how you really bring experiences into life through music, and that’s how people will feel it. Touching hearts is my job. When I’m singing, I sing in five languages or more. They don’t know all those languages, but they can feel and connect because I try hard to bring my personal life into the music I perform so the audience can really feel what I am feeling. If I have a four-minute slot to impress people or entertain people, I must create a scenario that has a beginning and an ending and I must abide by it and be truthful and honest to it while I bring it to life. That’s my motto.


How do you manage to go from a normal voice to the highest of notes and come back? Does it seem as crazy to you as it does to the audience?
I do it because I can. Not a lot of people can. I just want people to experience the mechanism of human voice. On YouTube, you will find so many people using their mouth to make bird sounds and great beatboxing sounds. My talent is that I can sing high and low. It’s not easy but it’s what I must do.


What sort of feelings does your musical journey thus far leave you with?
In these 20 years of my career, I have met so many beautiful people. They are all my friends now. You never know… wherever you go, you always have a friend. It’s really nice that I travel around so much and whenever I’m in a city, I call them or Facebook them and we meet and catch up. However, when I was younger, I enjoyed travelling. But now, packing my luggage eight times a month and flying all over the world, it’s very tiring. As for my voice, nothing is forever. But I take care of it. My voice is the cheapest instrument I could buy or own. I would have loved to have learnt an instrument, like cello or bassoon, but I couldn’t afford it. Singing was always my main thing.