Welcome to The Classical Collection, your first stop for the best in classical music in Korea. Whether you are looking for the best in popular classical music, an introduction to gugak, information on the great composers, or intelligent conversation about music and the arts, you will find it all here on The Classical Collection.
Tune in every Weekend morning, from 7 am to 9, and join our host, Dr Choi Dahye, as we go on a journey through the world of timeless classical melodies.

Dr Choi Da-hye's love affair with classical music began very early. She says that she became fascinated with Beethoven's "Fur Elise" when she heard her cousin practicing the piece when Da-hye was only four. The piece, she explains, sounded so beautiful that it almost moved her to tears. "It just made me feel so jealous of my cousin's ability, I wanted to do the same thing," she explains, "so I did!" After watching her cousin playing, she attempted, with some success, to copy what she had seen. She persevered until she had managed to catch up on what she had seen with improvisation, experimenting, and playing by ear until she had masterd the piece. "It was hard work. But, in the end, I got it," she explains. And this key event in her life was what convinced her mother that she should take piano lessons.

Lessons turned into hard study, and it was not long before Choi Da-hye decided to devote her life to music. She gained a B.M. from Seoul National University, her M.M. from the University of Cincinnati, and her D.M.A from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She has also won numerous awards for her performances, including the 8th San Antonio International Piano Competition, the Lima Young Artists' Competition; and she has also performed in concerts with the KBS Orchestra, the Cincinnati Concert Orchestra, and many others. Now almost three decades have passed since "Fur Elise" began a chain of events that led Choi Da-hye to become a pianist. However, she says that this childhood event had such a strong impact on her that she still draws on it for inspiration. She says, "I still see it as the moment that made me fall in love with music. I can't help of thinking of what Helen Keller said about the most beautiful things in life. Truly, these things cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt in the heart." And, she explains, that is what she aims to help share through the program. She explains, "I hope The Classical Collection can help you appreciate the most beautiful emotions, emotions that only music can convey."