Duality exists at the Han Eum Academy of Music in Korea between students of technical expertise but no imagination and students with true but often unbridled passion (labeled "leftovers" after elitist professors snag up all the other students who'll reflect well on their teaching reputations). Maestro Franz von Stresemann, invited to conduct for a year, shakes up the school by forming his own school orchestra, composed entirely from leftovers. Among the students, a free-spirited girl pianist of instinctive brilliance who attaches herself to a boy from the "other side," the dour, accomplished pianist son of a world-renown conductor who, himself, wants to conduct. These two seeming polar opposites form an unlikely but lasting and meaningful relationship while challenging school board members, arrogant teachers, and confounded peers.