When the lights in Yongin Poeun Art Hall dimmed, a single painting appeared on the stage screen. Mayor Lee Sang-il narrated as the first notes began to play. The image, the story and the music flowed together like a single scene, and audience members around the hall nodded in recognition.
On the evening of the 28th, Mayor Lee took the role of commentator for \"Music With Pictures and Stories 3.0\" at Yongin Poeun Art Hall, leading a roughly two-hour humanities concert for local residents. The program — the third in the series — was newly assembled after encore requests following two earlier performances in 2024 and 2025.
At the event, the mayor presented some 90 paintings and photographs he had personally selected and introduced 10 musical pieces, weaving anecdotes about the artists' lives and their work. Introducing Édith Piaf's \"Hymne à l'amour,\" he recounted her romance with boxing champion Marcel Cerdan, instantly lifting the room's atmosphere.
He then paired the art song \"Myeongtae\" with Park Su-geun's \"Dried Pollack,\" creating a quiet, shared moment of empathy in the hall. Mayor Lee unpacked Korean sensibilities through works such as \"Tree and Two Women\" and \"The Laundry Place,\" while the audience focused on the screen and absorbed the stories.
Sopranos Kim Sun-young and Jung Na-ri, tenor Yoon Jung-soo and baritone Kim Seung-hwan took the stage to perform opera arias and art songs. Piano, strings and woodwinds accompanied the vocalists, deepening the program's immersive quality.
As the performance drew to a close, the audience called for an encore. Mayor Lee returned to the stage with the singers to perform \"Love Until the End of the World\" and Song Chang-sik's \"We,\" prompting enthusiastic applause and cheers.
The evening — a careful blend of images, narrative, music and song — became more than simple commentary; it unfolded as a humanities performance. Even after the final note, patrons lingered in their seats, sharing the lingering mood.
