From the category archives:

Concert reviews

Korean Musicians Win English Hearts

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by Jennifer Barclay on 26 October, 2009

in Concert reviews, Fusion music, Korean traditional music

Jennifer Barclay, author of Meeting Mr Kim, reviews Gong Myoung at the Chichester Festival Theatre, 12 October 2009
He enters the stage wearing an oversized orange hat and sunglasses, carrying a toolbox and a walking stick. From the toolbox he takes out a saw and a drill, saws off the end of the walking stick, drills [...]

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A new work enters the Cello repertoire

20 August 2009 Concert reviews
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Last Thursday saw the world premiere of the cello concerto by Unsuk Chin, a BBC commission. Chin, who was born in Korea in 1961, has been composer-in-residence for both the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. She is a careful worker: the new work was originally scheduled for the 2007 Prom season, but [...]

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Yoon Bok-hee: a Korean Kitten in Kingston

17 June 2009 Concert reviews
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“Aigoo!” grumbled veteran pop diva Yoon Bok-hee as she bent down to untangle a kink in the microphone cable. Her back didn’t seem to be giving her any problems though. She told us twice, to much applause, that she is now 63 years old, and very sprightly she is too. This was all part of [...]

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An operatic evening at the KCC

8 June 2009 Concert reviews
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Sol Opera Company has just been on a European tour, and before it goes back to Korea it came to the Korean Cultural Centre to present some arias. Sol Sopera Company is based in Busan, and was introduced to the audience by the ROK ambassador, himself a Busanite. Sol has been going for seven years [...]

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Review: Youn Sun Nah and Ulf Wakenius at the Vortex

11 May 2009 Concert reviews
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There weren’t many people who knew what to expect at the Vortex on Sunday night. Time Out had given a useful taster in their listings column, while one or two Korean fans (including the ambassador’s wife) knew Youn Sun Nah’s music well. Probably most of the audience were there because they are Vortex regulars – [...]

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Legends in Music: Jasmine Choi’s Wigmore debut

5 April 2009 Concert reviews
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A review of rather a fine recital by flautist Jasmine Choi, including a work by Korean composer Yun Isang

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Dulsori gets Chichester jumping to the beat

31 January 2009 Concert reviews
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Jennifer Barclay meets Dulsori at their performance in Chichester’s Festival Theatre, 24 January 2009.

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Baramgot at St Giles: event of the year?

14 November 2008 Concert reviews
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A review of a superb concert by traditional / fusion music group Baramgot, led by Won Il.

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English church, Korean choir, great concert

25 August 2008 Concert reviews
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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 [...]

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Yoon and Tall Lee crowd-surf in Kingston

7 June 2008 Concert reviews
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Saharial reports from the Yoon Band’s gig at The Peel, Kingston, 6 June 2008

Arriving at 5.30pm, Y.B. (Yoon Band) was almost instantly swamped by the dozen or so Korean youngsters that had been lurking for a while, and amiably chatted to them whilst posing for photos and signing autographs. I chatted briefly to Lee from [...]

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We Love Kim Soo Hee (she said)

31 January 2008 Concert reviews
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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 [...]

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We Love Kim Soo Hee (he said)

31 January 2008 Concert reviews
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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 [...]

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Choi Jin at SOAS

24 November 2007 Concert reviews
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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 [...]

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Sejong: what live music is all about

16 June 2007 Concert reviews
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Sejong: Three Moments in Time – Cadogan Hall, Sunday 10 June
Go along to a standard orchestral concert, and what do you see? Ranks of musicians sitting inertly and gazing intently at their music stands. The baton is maybe a flash of white just visible in the corner of their eye, but from the audience’s perspective [...]

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Lim Hyung-joo: dreaming in marble halls

11 June 2007 Concert reviews
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In the first half of the St John’s recital on Thursday, Lim Hyung-joo concentrated on the more classical end of the popera spectrum. There was a microphone on stage, and Lim stood behind it, but up until the interval the evening was un-miked. Having heard a couple of his performances on YouTube I was wondering [...]

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