Carnegie Hall in New York in the US is the stage every musician wishes to perform even once in a life time The melodies of ‘Gabriel's Oboe’ I heard from Heart-to-Heart Orchestra thereof have been lingering in my ears even until a week past.

Last month 23rd(local time), when the performance started at the Stern Auditorium, the biggest one among the three areas in Carnegie Hall, the audience were lost in admiration. It’s not just for the familiar melodies of ‘Gabriel's Oboe’, the main music of the movie ‘The Mission’. Though the tune was a little different from the original sound as the oboe part mentioned in the title was substituted with trumpet, the impression from the performer was more than that from the same music in the movie. The performance of Heart-to-Heart Orchestra consisted of the members having developmental disabilities that opened people’s mind wide was just like the father Gabriel released the wariness of the native in the movie.

25 members of Heart-to-Heart Orchestra who performed that day have difficulties in communicating with other due to developmental disabilities. With such reason some of them had shaken their hands or bodies before going to the stage. But as the performance began they beat the time looking at each other alternately. Timpani part Yongyeon Yoo(21) tried to keep the beat with hand gestures in the air not to miss the time. 

The members talked to each other and communicated with the audience through the music. The performance of Heart-to-Heart Orchestra was the last in the order after the singing of many choruses was done since it's a special stage for 2018 Global Choir Concert hosted by CBSN in the US. Although it took over an hour to wait for their turn, they waited patiently. It was seen that the music plays a role of a link connecting them to the world.

When they played Halleluiah surrounded by the chorus groups of 400 people after ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘Gabriel's Oboe’, the sign of developmental disabilities couldn't be found. Despite of being surrounded by the unfamiliar environment and people about which even normal people might have been nervous, they harmonized the melodies with their colleagues and the chorus members. 

The sweat not only the members but the staffs shed until they stood on the stage was a thing normal people aren't able to imagine. In the beginning of the organizing of the orchestra in 2006, they couldn't sit still even for 10mins, therefore, one member must be assigned with and taught by one dedicated teacher with full charge. But now they changed to be able to wait patiently until the last turn even when they gather without teachers. The sweat shed in such a way led to each member's achievement not only for the orchestra activities. Hangeol Lee who took the orchestra's entrance exam by playing a recorder enrolled in Korea National University of Arts and is doing master's program. He captivated the eyes and ears of the audience by playing Gabriel's Oboe with trumpet. He said, “I can't feel it real performing at Carnegie Hall”, and “I wish to proceed my study in the US”.

As they are having developmental disabilities, their mothers as well as the staffs had to follow them up to here to take care of them. Younghee Ahn, the mother of the twin brothers Jaekyun and Sunkyun Lim(23), said, “I didn't expect them to perform at Carnegie Hall”, and “It is grateful for them to show that they can do as good as the normal people though they have disabilities.” 

On the last 25th after the concert in New York, they played music as the first orchestra of the members having disorders for Korean Cultural Weeks at John F. Kennedy Center by the invitation of Korean Cultural Center. They also received acclamation and standing ovation from the audience for the encore at the center. The conductor Doohyun Ahn who was responsible for the orchestra's performance in the US said, “The members are equipped with superior musical skill also as soloist compared to the normal performers”, and “I wish all of them would continue making efforts to stand on international stage based on the performance this time.”