All eyes are currently on Cho Seong-jin, winner of this year’s Chopin competition. But while we wait for the reviews of his debut Deutsche Grammophon release, let’s not forget other Korean pianists with an affinity for Chopin. In this months’s Grammophone one of the Editor’s Choices is a disk of Chopin preludes by Lim Dong-hyek: … [Read More]
Category: Music news (page 2)
Cho Seong-jin wins Chopin Competition
Congratulations to Cho Seong-jin for winning first prize in the 17th International Fryderyck Chopin Piano Competition. The award was presented on 21 October in Warsaw. The below video is of stage III of the finals on 14 October. Cho starts to play at about 1:13:30 and continues for one hour. Links: chopincompetition2015.com [Read More]
Bulsechul album now available on iTunes
Many LKL followers may also be tuning in to Gugak Sounds on SOAS Radio, in which presenter and SOAS student Dami Eniola shares her passion of Korean traditional music and contemporary music using traditional instruments. We’re now in to Season 2, in which she will be focusing on folk music such as sanjo, but in … [Read More]
Chloe Mun wins 2015 Busoni Competition
Congratulations to Chloe Mun for winning the 2015 Ferrucio Busoni International Piano Competition, held in Bolzano. The Grand Final was held on 4 September. Minsoo Hong won fourth prize in the competition, while Kim Jong-yun was awarded a special prize for the best interpretation of a work by Ferruccio Busoni. The overall winner of the … [Read More]
Understatement of the year: Joint concert “not quite a success”
There’s a delightful and very detailed account of the grand Independence Day North-South musical collaboration in the Korea Joongang Daily. The headline reads “DMZ concert not quite a success, but not a failure”. Less politely put, the affair sounds like it was a bit of a fiasco: Only “13 musicians … turned up: one violin, … [Read More]
Jongmin Park wins Song prize in Cardiff Singer of the World
Congratulations to Jongmin Park for winning the Song Prize in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2015. The competition ran from 14 to 21 June. Park wins prize money of £7,500. The main prize (and £15,000) was won by Nadine Koutcher from Belarus. Of the twenty competitors, three were from South Korea. Two of … [Read More]
Joo Yeon Sir wins Karl Jenkins music performance prize
Congratulations to Joo Yeon Sir for winning The Arts Club Karl Jenkins Classical Music Award in association with Classic FM (and a cheque for £4,000). Joo Yeon will now record a piece of her choice and a short work composed especially by Karl Jenkins, both of which will be broadcast on Classic FM Read more … [Read More]
Ensemble Sinawi at LSO St Luke’s – don’t miss one of the highlights of COLF
For many LKL followers, the highlight of the City of London Festival this year will be the performance by Ensemble Sinawi at LSO St Luke’s on 8 July. If you liked Geomungo Factory at the K-Music festival last year, or have caught Baramgot on one of their London performances, this evening’s performance will be a … [Read More]
Koreans come 1st and 2nd in Hastings Piano comp
Congratulations to 17 year-old Lee Taek-gi on winning the first prize (and £10,000) in this year’s Hastings International Piano Competition with his performance of Rachmaninov’s 3rd piano concerto. Runner-up was Sunwoo Yekwon, winning £2,500. The final of the competition was on 8 March. Source: Hastings International Piano Competition [Read More]
No medals for the BBC’s Sochi closing ceremony coverage
As the Olympic flag was passed from Sochi to the mayor of Pyeongchang, it was time for a brief preview of the 2018 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. The BBC voiceover was done by sports commentator Hazel Irvine, who had been handed a press briefing but no more. Helpfully, she identified that the bird characters on … [Read More]
Miss Saigon to get Korean star
Hot on the heels of a Korean star appearing on the West End stage in Les Mis, Miss Saigon is to get a Korean lead in the shape of Hong Kwang-ho starring as Thuy. He appeared in the first Korean production of Miss Saigon a couple of years ago, according to producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh. … [Read More]
Korean indie musician invited to Glastonbury
Is this a first for a Korean musician? Singer-songwriter Choi Go-eun (최고은, also known as Gonne Choi) will be performing at Glastonbury in 2014, according to the Chosun Ilbo. Here’s hoping she stops off in London on the way. Here she is singing Eric’s Song: You can find some of her tracks on iTunes under … [Read More]
Na-Young Jeon to feature in Les Mis in West End
Not sure if this has been flagged up before, but the current production of Les Misérables has a Korean lead in Na-Young Jeon as Fantine. The first Korean lead role in a West End musical? I went last night and she was fantastic, as were the rest of the cast. Na-Yeong Jeon is scheduled for … [Read More]
Hongdae hosts rap v pansori battle
An interesting stunt pitting rappers against pansori performers was held in Hongdae last Friday. When I was waiting for Love X Stereo to come on stage at Freebird, I really should have been down at V-Hall, where the RapPansori battle was held. And a pansori singer was the victor. Source: Joongang Daily [Read More]
K-pop as peace-builder?
Two recent stories from Israel and Palestine: Middle East: Korean pop ‘brings hope for peace’, BBC, 7 August 2013. “It’s something that gives you hope, and in Jerusalem it is sometimes hard to find hope,” an Arab student is quoted as saying. Israeli troops caught doing Gangnam style with Palestinians on the West Bank, Evening … [Read More]
A new trend in Korean-speaking Brits?
As an inspiration to the many British Koreaphiles out there who don’t speak the language, look no further than X-factor winners Little Mix. According to the Chosun Ilbo, a contestant performing a cover version of their song Wings on K-pop Star prompted them to release their own Korean version: Rather more proficient is 영국남자 or … [Read More]