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Category Archives: Music: other

Baramgot at St Giles: event of the year?

14-Nov-08

Baramgot at St Giles: event of the year?

It was a typical wet autumn evening in the Barbican, and inside St Giles's church it was a little bit chilly. The audience was a touch thin on the ground - some of the regular followers of Korean cultural events will have been at the gala opening of the Korean film festival 5 minutes walk away, or at the annual Anglo Korean Society dinner in the House of Commons. But there were some familiar faces in the audience, undeterred by the diary clash, as well as plenty of less familiar ones. Those who went to the AKS dinner will have had a splendid time. I certainly did last year. I heard mixed reviews of the film, but in general it got ...

Live Music Versus Audio Tourism

08-Nov-08

Live Music Versus Audio Tourism

Keith Howard gives his inaugural lecture as Professor of Music at SOAS on Tuesday: Live Music Versus Audio Tourism: world music and the changing music industry Inaugural Lecture by Professor Keith Howard (SOAS) 11 November 2008, 5.30pm,Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, SOAS Chair: Professor Jonathan Stock, University of Sheffield Professor Paul Webley, Director and Principal of SOAS, will preside. In his inaugural lecture Professor Keith Howard will discuss the implications of the oral qualities of musical communication. The academic discipline of ethnomusicology gives central importance to fieldwork, to documentation and - increasingly - to learning from expert teachers how to perform. Ethnomusicologists promote, through rarely profitable recordings, books and concerts, their take on the social and cultural distinctiveness of specific world musics. Joining them, UNESCO, in ...

A Night with Baramgot

28-Oct-08

A Night with Baramgot

European Premiere Experience new waves of traditional Korean music A Night with Baramgot Date: Thursday 06 November 2008 Time: 7:30pm Venue: St Giles’ Cripplegate, Fore Street, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DA Tickets £8 / £5 (concessions) at the door Sponsored by Art Council of Korea Produced by Baramgot Managed by KCPA Won Il's group Baramgot gives its European première at St. Giles Cripplegate in London. With Baramgot, Won Il has opened a new horizon in traditional Korean music as a percussion player as well as a composer. Like wind is at the turning point between the land and the sea, Baramgot creates the new waves of free sounds … Musicians: Won Il (Director/Percussion), Pak Suna (Gayageum), Park Woojae (Geomungo), Lee Aram (Daegeum), Kang Kwonsoon (Vocal) Baramgot Baramgot is a ...

Sorea - gugak fusion

11-Oct-08

Sorea - gugak fusion

A lazy post with a link to a performance of a number entitled "Seoul in panic" by the gugak fusion band Sorea. Modern music performed on traditional instruments, with dancing both traditional and modern. It could be taken straight from a Korea, Sparkling promotional video. It works rather well: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_tytIJ9u8E[/youtube] The b-boys are from Extreme Crew. Less satisfying as a musical experience are the massed strings of the Sookmyung Gayageum Orchestra playing some Pachelbel, but Last 4 One makes up for it. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8qhYq7VNXw[/youtube] A version of this was performed at the Korean Cultural Centre in London not so long ago. Back to Sorea - this time without the breakdancing - for a TV performance of Red Sky and an Arirang [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYepfCBoCIA[/youtube] They're probably better when they're on a ...

Pansori and bibimbap – fusion in Korea’s cultural content

03-Oct-08

Pansori and bibimbap – fusion in Korea’s cultural content

By Peter Corbishley Last Thursday and Friday 24-25th September an itinerant band of Pansori sellers displayed their wares at the Korean Cultural Centre (KCC) and the School of Advanced Study, University of London. The main event was Yonsei University’s (Institute of Media Art) Jeong Taeg Lim and Jung A Huh’s talk on ‘The Aesthetic modernity of the traditional Korean music drama “Pansori”’ as part of the joint Institute for Germanic and Romance Studies (IGRS) & Institute for Musical Research conference on ‘Opera, Exoticism and Visual Culture’ mistress-minded by another Korean, Dr Hyunseon Lee of IGRS. The hors d’oeuvre (almost literally as the main focus was on ‘bibimpap’ as a metaphor for fusion in Korean culture) on the previous evening at the ...

English church, Korean choir, great concert

25-Aug-08

English church, Korean choir, great concert

What is aural image is conjured up when you hear of a Civic Chorale? Perhaps a worthy amateur choral society, used to performing madrigals with rather too many singers and too much vibrato, plodding through an annual Messiah at Easter time? Think again when it comes to the Suwon Civic Chorale. This forty-strong choir from the home of one of Korea's world heritage sites - the Hwaseong Fortress - can justifiably call themselves world class. The sound they produce is totally familiar to those who move in the circles of good Western European choirs. Well-blended, warm-sounding, neither too full of vibrato nor with the acid tone of some of the early music specialists. The sopranos and altos, when singing in unison, ...

Suwon Civic Chorale in Kingston

24-Aug-08

Suwon Civic Chorale in Kingston

Earlier this week the Suwon Civic Chorale were participating in the convention of the Association of British Choral Directors in Lincoln. Friday night saw a gala concert in the cathedral including other world-class choral groups such as the Orlando Consort. Tonight the Suwon choir come to All Saints Parish Church in Kingston market place, KT1 1JP. The concert starts at 7:30 and admission is free. The Suwon Civic Chorale, is a group consisting of professional vocalists who have majored in vocal music and is one of the top professional choruses in Korea, striving to create world-class choral music. Founded in 1983, the Chorale has staged 115 regular performances and over 800 tour and invitational concerts and made TV and radio appearances which ...

Book now for some outrageously fun evenings

29-May-08
A regular feature of the summer evenings is the SOAS world music summer school. Two years ago I went along to the Samulnori summer school run by the excellent Dulsori and had a ball. Last year, LKL woman of the year 2006 Rowan Pease went along with her daughter and had a whale of a time. This year it's your turn. Korean Samulnori Percussion Dulsori Ensemble Date: 7 July 2008, Time: 6:00 PM Finishes: 11 July 2008, Time: 8:00 PM Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings Type of Event: Summer School Series: Summer Music School Timetable Course Dates: 07-11 July, Mon-Fri 6-8pm Course Fee: £75 (concs £55) Samulnori is the contemporary form of a rural percussion tradition stretching back into antiquity. Today, Samulnori is the most popular style in the Korean traditional ...

Musical intermission

03-Apr-08
We apologise for the disruption in service. Normal service will resume as soon as possible. In the meanwhile, here's Jeon Sung-min (Guitar) and Jung Ji-eun (Kayageum): [audio:Track05.mp3] Sung-min and Ji-eun will also be playing at the Anglo-Korean Society event on 10 April. Book your tickets now. Related posts:Dae Jang Geum musical needs translator From this week’s Seoul Selection newsletter Seoul Selection is...AKS Korean night - she said One of two accounts of the recent Anglo-Korean Society evening...Musical diplomacy A while ago I posted about Jason Carter’s trip to... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Patti Kim at 70

27-Mar-08
Congratulations to superstar singer Patti Kim on 49 years in the entertainment industry. Kim debuted in March 1959 before the US Eighth Army and has never looked back since. Using non-Western arithmetic, that makes her upcoming concert in Seoul at the end of April 2008 her 50th anniversary. Whatever the mathematics, I for one will be buying her CD when it comes out. Links: Patti Kim Marks 50th Anniversary of Singing Career, Chosun Ilbo, 25 March 2008 Related posts:Patti Kim: A cab called Reliable (St Martins Press, New York, 1997) “A novel about growing...March events Academia and discussions The last SOAS Centre for Korean Studies...Never trust KBS. Ever. Sorry to disappoint you (and myself), but the alleged concert... Related posts brought to you by ...

Americans in Pyongyang

28-Feb-08

Americans in Pyongyang

With typically bad timing my travel arrangements didn't work out. I caught the Star-Spangled Banner and the first movement of the New World Symphony in the car on the way to the airport, but missed the North Korean anthem which opened the broadcast, and of course all the encores -- including the tearful Arirang (by that time I was in the departure lounge and out of reach of WQXR national public radio 96.3 FM.) On Monday, the New York Philharmonic's trip to the DPRK was on the front page of the Arts section of the New York Times. On Tuesday, the day of the NYPO concert itself, the trip was on the front page of the main section, reporting on the ...

Hyun-ae Lee recital at the Guidhall School

10-Feb-08
Tuesday, 26 February 19:00 Location: Lecture Recital Room, Guildhall School Hyun-Ae Lee violin Bojana Dimkovic piano Schubert Sonata for violin and piano in A Saint-Seans/Ysaye Caprice Martinu Sonata for Violin and Piano no.1 Admission Free Links: Da Capo String Quartet blog Hyun-ae Lee biography Guildhall School events page Related posts:Ji-yeoun You recital at LSE Ji-Yeoun You (piano) Date: Thursday 14 February 2008 Time: 1.05-2pm...SEE YOU AFTER SCHOOL (방과후 옥상) (15) Dir: LEE Seok-hoon, 2006 Wed 24 May 2006, 9:00pm, Prince...Leeds prizewinner to play in London Sunwook Kim, winner of the 2006 Leeds International Piano... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Ji-yeoun You recital at LSE

09-Feb-08
Ji-Yeoun You (piano) Date: Thursday 14 February 2008 Time: 1.05-2pm Venue: Shaw Library, Old Building Beethoven: - Phantasie Op77 - Piano Sonata Op27 No 2 "Moonlight" - Piano Sonata Op57 "Appassionata" Winner of five major competition prizes, Ji Yeoun has the privilege of studying accompaniment with one of the 20th century's great singers, Dietrich Fischer Dieskau. This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. For further information email events AT lse DOT ac DOT uk or call 020 7955 6043. If you are planning to attend this event and would like details on how to get here and what time to arrive, please refer to Coming to an event at LSE Links LSE events page Ji-yeoun You entry in Wikipedia Ji-yeoun ...

We Love Kim Soo Hee (she said)

31-Jan-08

We Love Kim Soo Hee (she said)

Two of your regular LKL writers were so taken with Kim Soo Hee's concert on 26 January that we both felt moved to write about it. Here's Jennifer's take. Kim Soo Hee, we love you! Especially when you make that heart shape with your arms above your head and blow a kiss. Please come back to London. We'll try to take Korean lessons in the meantime. OK, Philip and I thought we were a little mad going to see a Korean pop singer who made her name back in the seventies or eighties (we think). We were indeed the only non-Koreans in the audience, bar one or two with Korean company, because the event was only advertised through ...

We Love Kim Soo Hee (he said)

31-Jan-08
Two of your regular LKL writers were so taken with Kim Soo Hee's concert on 26 January that we both felt moved to write about it. Here's Philip's take. "They turned up this afternoon and asked us where our sound system and lighting was," confided the House Manager at St John's Smith Square as I bought my tickets on Saturday evening. "I had to tell them, 'Sorry, we're a classical music venue. We don't do sound systems and disco lights'". Somehow the organisers managed to lay their hands on a PA system for the evening, but it seems the Trot diva was not best pleased with its quality. If there seems to be an element of criticism in the use of the word ...

Some New Year drumming

04-Jan-08
First, a video posted to YouTube on New Year's Eve: a Korea-Japan collaboration in Los Angeles, from Doppo Nagata. "New year celebration of dance and music 2008" from Los Angeles, California. "Japan-Korea cross-cultural future traditional music and dance". Music composed and produced by Doppo Nagata (Soul of Japan and beyond). Choreography by Soo Hyang Lee (Soo Lee's dance studio in Torrance, California). We are looking for dancers for collaboration. Ensemble name: Soul Of Japan And Beyond. Tune title: Great Asia (Drum Dance) [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG2CgpTw7ho[/youtube] And, from a performance in Cologne, in December 2007 [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOPfzHMwdMo[/youtube] For K-drama fans, here's Lee Da Hae from My Girl wielding the sticks: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4YFYU8AGgw[/youtube] And some more female drummers in Gyeongju [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5llH0caePo[/youtube] I'm sure there must be some male drummers in Korea somewhere... Related posts:Some videos to ...

Weekend events update

07-Dec-07
Since I did my 1 December events post, I've received a couple of updates which are now reflected in that post. First, I've received confirmation of the exhibition / puppet show on Saturday by Magenta Tan (née 신진경) at the Korean Register Office in New Malden this Saturday and Sunday (8/9 Dec). The show is entitled "Woven Inspiration" (flyer left). Second, on Sunday afternoon (9 December) 17-year-old double bass virtuoso Ha Young Jung ((Q: What does this Korean teenage virtuoso have in common with the middle-aged LKL blogmeister? A: We were both music scholars at the same school in Bristol. OK, I was only an exhibitioner, but maybe, Shin Jeong-ah style, I might be permitted a bit of qualification-inflation)) will be participating ...

Choi Jin at SOAS

24-Nov-07
Concerts at SOAS always seem to have a good turn-out. Monday (19 November) was no exception when Choi Jin and colleagues presented a programme of modern compositions and arrangements of music for traditional Korean instruments. Keith Howard provided some informative introductions to the music to be performed, which provided useful context as well as some breathing space for Choi to slip into a different hanbok. Professor Choi, who teaches at both Ewha Women's University and Chung-ang University, started with Hwang Byung-ki's Chimhyangmu for 12-string kayagum (top), probably the best-known modern composition for the instrument. It appears in the soundtrack to Dan Gordon's documentary on the North Korean mass games (A State of Mind), and had two public performances in London last ...

Kayagum and dance at SOAS

06-Nov-07
As part of the SOAS autumn concert series there's a kayagum recital, with traditional and contemporary dance, on 19 November at 7pm. Choi Jin (최진) : Evocative Korean Kayagum and Dance Choi Jin is one of the most brilliant kayagum players in the Korean music world. As a well-known performer, she has given many concerts around the world and has published 3 CDs. At SOAS, she will combine brilliant technical artistry on the zither with traditional and contemporary dance. The sound of Choi Jin and her kayagum ensemble will transport you to one of Asia's most distant lands, evoking ancient and contemporary worlds. Free admission, no booking required. It's first come, first served. Venue: Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, ...

Musical diplomacy

04-Nov-07
A while ago I posted about Jason Carter's trip to Pyongyang to participate in the annual Friendship Festival. While in Pyongyang, Carter met up with Middlesborough opera diva Suzannah Clarke, who has been performing at the Friendship Festival every year since 2003. Clarke's North Korean connection is through football. She's had a long association with the beautiful game, warming up the crowds at Wembley at the opening celebrations for Euro 96. She also sang at the England - Albania world cup qualifier recently, singing the Albanian national anthem in the language it for which it was written. In 2001, while filming The Game of their Lives, Nick Bonner and Dan Gordon brought the surviving members of the 1966 North Korean soccer team ...

Leeds prizewinner to play in London

25-Oct-07
Sunwook Kim, winner of the 2006 Leeds International Piano competition, comes to London in November for two concerts. For me, the highlight will be the solo recital on 4 November in Golders Green for the Mill Hill Music Club: 1. Mill Hill Music Club - Date : 4th November 2007, 7:30 pm - Venue : The Hall, The Henrietta Barnett School, Central Square, Hamstead Garden Suburb, London, NW11 7BN - Ticket Prices : 15 pounds - Programme Beethoven - Sonata No. 9 in E Major, Op. 14-1 Mozart - Sonata No. 14 c minor K. 457 Chopin - Fantasie in f minor Op. 49 Liszt - Sonata in b minor S. 178 - Mill Hill Box Office : 0208 959 3866 2. Royal Festival Hall - London Philharmonic Orchestra - Date : 9th ...

DPRK travellers’ tales

15-Sep-07
Two travel accounts have recently been highlighted in the BAKS list. First, a long account by guitarist Jason Carter of his 10-day trip to Pyongyang earlier this year to perform in a spring music festival. Like many DPRK travel accounts, we find the author having moments of frustration with the minders as well as appreciating contact with the people he meets. Carter shared the festival with hundreds of other performers, and turned up not knowing what he was expected to play. He gave them one of his own compositions, though the minders wanted something a bit jollier. For those who have been hanging around the various DPRK themed events in London this year, there will be a familiar name - Suzannah Clarke, ...

Bang goes Chuseok

05-Sep-07
Two events to celebrate Chuseok, Korea's harvest festival. Firstly, the Anglo-Korean Society will be having a buffet dinner at Young Bean Kwan on the Barbican highwalks in the City on 20 September. Guest of honour will be Ambassador Cho. There will be a short pre-dinner talk on Korean customs and food, and guests will be entertained by young Korean musicians on traditional instruments. Pre-booking required with the AKS. Download a flier for the Chuseok dinner here. AKS membership enquiries to Sylvia Park (sylviaparkairtravel at hotmail dot co dot uk) Second, the British Museum will be celebrating Chuseok on 22 September. Many of the entertainments from the Thames Festival the previous weekend will be appearing in the forecourt of the BM, and also in some ...

Last chance to register…

13-Jul-07
The Samulnori Summer School at SOAS is next week. If you can spare five evenings you'll have a great time. I can't promise you'll end up being able to drum like the fellow on the right, but you'll be able to do a convincing imitation of being able to hit a changgo. And by the end of the week you will be able to touch your toes if you weren't able to at the start of the week. Even if you don't see this post until Monday, you may be OK. Last year one of our class only found out about it on the Monday night at a Samulnori concert on the South Bank (I think Kim Duk-soo was in town) - ...

Rivers dance for Dano

18-Jun-07

Rivers dance for Dano

A roving reporter's account of yesterday's Trafalgar Square Dano festivities by Jennifer Barclay with photos mostly by Jeon Sung-min (photo of the b-boys by Katie) It was a grey day on Sunday 17 June; but I donned a slightly sparkling T-shirt and set out for Trafalgar Square for the first 'Korea, Sparkling' Dano festival to be held there. 'Korea, Sparkling' is the new brand to lure foreigners to Korea. Dano? A traditional Korean summer festival, where people from neighbouring villages came together to have fun and celebrate the spirit of community. It would be just as likely to rain in Korea too, but warmer. The dark clouds looked like they might just hold off. And the cute little kids waving flags provided enough ...