PHILADELPHIA, PA - April 30 - Long isolated from the world community, North Korea took steps on the road to diplomacy by opening its doors for five classical musicians from the United States.  The musicians – from Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin – recently performed at the annual Spring Friendship Art Festival in Pyongyang.

The trip was made possible by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), an international social justice group that has worked for peace and reconciliation on the Korean peninsula for decades.

The group consisted of: violinist Young-Nam Kim, a Sony recording artist who was born in North Korea; solo and collaborative pianist Jamie Schmidt, an adjunct faculty member at Lake Forest College in Chicago; Paula Kosower, an active performer and teacher in the Chicago area; Sally Chisholm, violist and a founding member of the Thouvenel String Quartet of Texas; and first violinist Eugene Purdue, who was a finalist of the Naumburg String Quartet Competition in New York.

Young-Nam Kim is artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He frequently performs with such distinguished artists as pianists Leon Fleisher and Gilbert Kalish, violinists Felix Galimir and Joseph Silverstein, members of the Juilliard String Quartet and well-known cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Chisholm is professor in the Department of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The musicians played movements from piano quintets by Shostakovich, Schumann and Dvorak.

The festival, now in it 22nd year, includes hundreds of performers from nearly 50 different countries. James Reilly and Wu Na, AFSC East Asia Quaker International Affairs Representatives organized and accompanied the tour. This is the third year the Service Committee has participated in the event. 

The group performed live in front of thousands of Pyongyang residents and the performance was carried on national television. The group also attended public events, and toured historic and cultural sites around Pyongyang.

The American Friends Service Committee’s involvement in the Korean peninsula is not new. In the early 1950s, the AFSC helped South Koreans rebuild houses destroyed by war and worked in a medical project for war refugees. Since then, the AFSC has used behind-the-scenes diplomacy to open unofficial dialogue with North Koreans, looking for avenues toward peace and ways to end the country’s political and economic isolation. Ultimately, only through international trade and economic relations will North Korea be able to feed its people.

The AFSC tradition of diplomacy continues with James Reilly and Wu Na, who create opportunities for North Korean participation in international conferences and exchanges and organize return delegations from the United States to North Korea. AFSC has sponsored agricultural and other delegations to the country. In 1999, AFSC brought a group of cardiovascular specialists to the United States to observe current techniques in heart care. In addition, The Service Committee has brought scholars and activists from East Asia to the United States and sponsored conferences on alternative security and tolerance building.

“Engagement with North Korea is not impossible,” Reilly states, “but understanding and trusting each other after decades of mistrust can be a slow, difficult process.”

The American Friends Service Committee is a faith-based organization working for peace, justice and reconciliation in 22 countries of the world. With national headquarters in Philadelphia and regional offices in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Des Moines, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Pasadena, California; and Cambridge, Massachusetts, AFSC emphasizes people, not politics or ideology – upholding the dignity and promise of every person.

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