Fusion music

K-music focus forum at the KCC

by Philip Gowman on 17 May, 2013

in Event Notices | Fusion music | K-music Festival | KCCUK | Korean traditional music | Pansori | Talks and seminars

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To warm you up for the festival of Korean music coming up during June, a panel of speakers will talk about Korean music at the KCC on 21 March at 7pm. It’s particularly nice to see Songlines on the panel. John Lusk from that magazine did a great article on Kim Duk-soo and other Korean [...]

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K-Music: The National Orchestra of Korea at the Barbican, 14 June

by Philip Gowman 17 May 2013
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The 2013 festival of Korean music starts with a prestigious appearance of the National Orchestra Orcestra of Korea. The orchestra was formed in 1995 and plays modified Korean traditional instruments, performing concerts which combine Korean and Western music in both new and traditional compositions. K-Music: The National Orchestra of Korea Friday 14 June, 8:00PM Barbican, [...]

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K-Music: Geomungo Factory at the Cadogan Hall, 19 June

by Philip Gowman 17 May 2013
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The K-music festival continues with a fusion Geomungo quartet at the Cadogan Hall, who have had rave reviews from Songlines magazine: K-Music: Geomungo Factory Wednesday 19 June, 7:30PM Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, London, SW1X 9DQ The first-ever British concert by Korean cult band Geomungo Factory, who have taken the geomungo – an ancient form [...]

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Pochagi – A Tapestry of Korean Sounds

by Philip Gowman 12 May 2013
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June is turning in to quite a month for Korean music. To warm us up for the big K-music festival later in the month, Hyelim Kim (SOAS) performs with the Yin Yang Collective and launches her CD at the Royal Asiatic Society on 6 June: Pochagi – A Tapestry of Korean Sounds Yin Yang Collective [...]

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Tim Garland’s Korean collaboration: Sinawi and the Blues

by Philip Gowman 17 December 2012
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The combination of Korean traditional instruments with modern western ones gives rise to complex performance issues. Incompatibilities of style, volume, timbre and tuning are challenges to be overcome, not always with success. With the improvisatory nature of jazz, where instruments get their chance for solos and where amplification is a customary feature of the mix, [...]

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Girl band is one of the DPRK’s Great Innovations of 2012

by Philip Gowman 9 December 2012
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The KCNA has a press release which celebrates the many innovations in the year in which the DPRK became a great and prosperous nation. Immediately after an introductory passage praising the “ideologocial might” of the military, and before a listing of the many new factories and other technological achievements comes a brief paragraph on soft [...]

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Korea Moves – with Tim Garland at the London Jazz Festival

by Philip Gowman 15 October 2012
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Last year at the KCC we had an interesting jazz / gugak fusion concert. Coming soon as part of the London Jazz Festival, a concert in which the emphasis is more likely to be on the jazz, but with participation from the Tori Ensemble‘s Heo Yoon-jeong (whom we saw at the KCC last February) and [...]

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KAYA – in concert at the Barn Theatre, Westminster

by Philip Gowman 9 October 2012
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KAYA have been part of the London Korean music scene for many years. And if you go to Kaya restaurant in Albemarle Street (no relation) the chances are that their music will be playing in the background. It’s nice to get a chance to see them again live: KAYA – In Concert Traditional Korean harp [...]

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All Eyes on Korea: consistent investment in the performing arts brings its rewards

by Philip Gowman 29 August 2012
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The London 2012 Olympics was around a decade in the making: preparation of the bid, building the venue itself and putting in place the infrastructure required to run a successful games. And for the last couple of years of that preparation time, a separate team of hard-working organisers from the Korean Ministry of Culture Sports [...]

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Concert notes: Be-Being’s Korean Masque Music Project at the QEH

by Philip Gowman 7 August 2012
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Be-Being (비빙) was the first of the five musical events of the All Eyes on Korea festival on the South Bank and set the scene well for the remainder. It was an evening of fusion: contemporary music on traditional instruments, with some of the numbers accompanied by traditional mask dances from a variety of traditions. [...]

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Concert Notes: All Eyes on Baramgot at the Purcell Room

by Matthew Jackson 30 July 2012
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I had expected the five-piece ensemble Baramgot (바람곶) to provide a solid evening of traditionally folk-inspired Korean  music. Having attended a number of traditional Korean music performances before, I had a fairly clear idea of what I was in for, and I was looking forward to it. The 75 minute programme consisted of seven items, [...]

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Korean Music Ensemble Baramgot at the Purcell Room

by Philip Gowman 22 July 2012
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LKL is a great fan of Baramgot, and they return to the South Bank with the added attraction of crossover haegeum player Ccotbyel. Not to be missed. Korean Music Ensemble Baramgot Date: 29 July 2012, 7:45pm Venue: Purcell Room Baramgot return to Southbank Centre led by Won Il, bringing a fresh approach to the mystical [...]

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Pansori Project ZA at the Queen Elizabeth Hall

by Philip Gowman 22 July 2012
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This event should be the highlight of the All Eyes on Korea concerts at the end of July. Pansori Project ‘ZA’ performs Sacheon-ga Date: 30 July 2012, 7:30pm Venue: Queen Elizabeth Hall Pansori, with its themed stories, is a form of musical theatre recognised by UNESCO, and Pansori Project ‘ZA’ bring these Korean songs of [...]

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Gong Myoung: Walkabout at the South bank

by Philip Gowman 22 July 2012
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The second of the music performances in the All Eyes on Korea festival is Gong Myoung – at heart a percussion band, but the genres range much more broadly than that: Gong Myoung: Walkabout Date: 28 July 2012, 7:45pm Venue: Purcell Room GongMyoung, meaning ‘resonance’, is a quartet that presents traditional Korean music with a [...]

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Be-Being presents Yi-myun-gong-jak at the Queen Elizabeth Hall

by Philip Gowman 22 July 2012
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The first of the music performances as part of the All Eyes on Korea festival is a fusion of up-to-date music on traditional instruments combined with traditional mask dance: Be-Being presents Yi-myun-gong-jak Date: 23 July 2012, 7:30pm Venue: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London SE1 8XX Mask cultures are some of the oldest forms of entertainment in [...]

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All Eyes on Korea: mark your diaries for the concerts at the end of July

by Philip Gowman 26 June 2012
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There’s some very special events coming up in a month’s time. Jennifer has raved about Gong Myoung before, and I rave about Baramgot whenever I can, they are so amazing. If the rest of the line-up matches these two acts, you’d be mad to miss any of them. Buy those tickets now. All Eyes on [...]

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The MBC K-pop event: HyunA and Queen will shine; EXO K have nothing to lose

by Philip Gowman 23 June 2012
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The MBC K-pop and culture showcase at the indigO2 sold out in around 3 hours. For those who didn’t get tickets, what are we missing out on? Here’s LKL’s predictions: The headline acts 4Minute Cube Entertainment’s girl band 4Minute came to London last year for the United Cube concert in Brixton. In hindsight, I think [...]

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The Colour of Korea: Korean Traditional Music Today – concerts in London and Cambridge

by Philip Gowman 20 April 2012
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Three concerts of traditional and contemporary music for Korean traditional instruments are coming up: first at the KCC on 24 April, then at the Cambridge Faculty of Music Recital Room (5:30pm 25 April) and finally in Robinson College Chapel on 28 April at 5pm. Similar programmes, and the same performers. The full details of the [...]

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From Local Monsters to BEAST: 1500 years of Korean music and dance at SOAS

by Philip Gowman 17 April 2012
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Last weekend’s free seminar at SOAS ranged from Silla dynasty lion dances to last month’s tour of Taiwan by BEAST, and from ancient Confucian ceremonial music to Samulnori and hip-hop via Trot. Juhae Gu introduced us to the dying musical form of Akkeuk (악극) – a form of stage musical using Trot music. It is [...]

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The North Korean A-ha Accordionists

by Philip Gowman 11 February 2012
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For those who haven’t seen it already: BBC News – North Korean A-ha accordionists ‘destined for stardom’ http://t.co/eIZOtyVL

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KAYA to perform at the KCC

by Philip Gowman 12 October 2011
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Over the last 10 years Jung Ji-eun (gayageum) and Jeon Sung-min (guitar) have become familiar figures at Korean cultural events in the London area and elsewhere. But you might not have noticed that they have been steadily expanding their repertoire, in particular with their own compositions. One of these compositions was performed at the evening [...]

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