On the evening of the 26th, as spring rain fell gently, a book concert for classical saxophonist Brandon Choi’s new release, “A Quiet Continue,” was held at Choi In-a Bookstore, located in the most tranquil building near Seonjeongneung.
Choi In-a, the former vice president of Cheil Worldwide and a star copywriter, opened Choi In-a Bookstore, an independent bookstore, in 2016. The shop is already a well-known destination for book lovers. More than 6,000 books are displayed by theme, and it is rumored for its outstanding curation. It is also a multifaceted cultural space that hosts various events such as lectures, meetups, and book talks. Since it is a place where you can clearly see the direction of life that Choi In-a pursues, I found myself thinking that this Brandon Choi book concert was a perfect fit for the venue.
The two, too, said the book concert was held because of a long-standing connection they have built over the years.
The event was led by pianist Song Young-min, who has been playing in sync with him on stage. Over the course of about an hour, Brandon Choi’s voice—tracing back to his high school days long ago and reaching the present—quietly seeped among the audience. Under the lights that filtered between the rows of books, the audience was so quiet it felt like it was listening to someone’s confession.
From a boy to a saxophonist—and a pause
The story began in childhood, when he sang along to songs in front of a record player. The saxophone he first held in high school was an instrument that helped him recover his own voice. Back then, when he announced that he would major in the saxophone—something “only those talented performers” would do—there was fierce opposition, as you’d expect. He entered college despite the opposition around him, failed at his first performance at church, and then, after his time in the naval band and study in the United States and France, he spent years on an unfamiliar path called the classical saxophone. Before he became a successful performer, he had to constantly prove his potential as a person. Once he got hooked on “recognition addiction,” he pushed his life all the way to the edge of a cliff just to be recognized, and as he processed that wildly intense schedule, he ran forward without looking back.
One day, when he was running with a feeling that if he stopped he would disappear, his 2022 diagnosis of thyroid cancer halted him. For a performer who uses his voice, it was the moment when he had to put everything down at once. He said that in front of that pause, he asked himself for the first time, “Am I living at a pace my body can handle?” At the center of his recovery was meditation. He said that even now, he lives without being chased by speed anymore, putting his days under the flow of his own life as he holds each day together with daily meditation, a dawn routine, and running. He laughed brightly as he said, “I used to have trouble getting to sleep until the early hours of the morning, but now when it’s 7 p.m., I get in bed and get ready.”
The breath that “A Quiet Continue” offers
The new book presented that day, “A Quiet Continue,” is a 352-page collection of essays that follows the time of his pause and recovery. In an era where performance and speed are treated as virtues, the author plainly says that life is not about speed—it’s about rhythm. In a society that keeps telling him to prove himself faster, it is his way of protecting himself to pause briefly, stop, and take a breath. The breath and routines that rebuilt his broken body and mind, and the way to observe bodily sensations, arrive for long-time readers with a quiet encouragement: you can breathe again, too.
After the book talk ended, it moved into a question-and-answer session. In the Q&A, someone asked Brandon Choi what kind of meditation he mostly does.
Brandon Choi works as part of the “Inner Communication” faculty led by Professor Kim Joo-hwan, and he is currently also taking part in the Inner Communication advanced course to train in meditation. He replied that he mostly practices compassion meditation, feeling infinite love being given to him just as a mother gives unconditional love to a child when the child is very young.
He said he tries to live every moment of life as if it were meditation, and it seemed he had already been living that way to some extent.
The attitude of living as though he is immersed in meditation at every moment could be felt in his facial expressions, his eyes, and his energy. In fact, his real-life 모습 and attitude are also shown well in “Secrets of Life, Death, and Disease,” which aired on April 8, 2026, on KBS.
The lingering after two saxophone pieces he played
At the end of the story, two pieces—performed with piano and saxophone blending together—followed. After the song “Seagulls,” the encore was “Loving You.” Emotions that couldn’t be fully delivered by words seeped into the audience along with the melody. As the breath that had been swelling in a hurry settled down, the title “A Quiet Continue” finally came into full focus. There was no rush in the music of someone who had fallen and then stood back up again. There was a calm there that only someone who pauses could bring.
If you can’t adjust the pace of your life at will, or if you’re not fully enjoying the life you have right now, you should consider reading his new book. His new release, “A Quiet Continue,” is available at offline bookstores such as Kyobo and Youngpoong, as well as online bookstores.
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