London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Recent music award winners

March was a month in which a couple of music awards were announced. The awards which appeared from nowhere were AVIMA, the Asian Voice Independent Music Awards. And recognising the impact of Indieful ROK, its mastermind Anna Lindgren was one of the international judges of the awards. Anna was nice enough to mention her LKL … [Read More]

Saharial gets it spot-on

Congratulations to LKL’s K-pop pundit Saharial for correctly gauging the mood of a nation. Back in early December nominated Shinhwa’s JunJin as Artiste of the Year. “JunJin’s popularity soared with the launch of his solo album in May,” said Saharial. “Continued exposure on variety shows as participant and presenter along with promoting the song ‘Wa’ … [Read More]

Patti Kim at 70

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 … [Read More]

More Korean success on classical music stage

The triennial Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition was held in April in Bamberg, Germany. 2004’s winner, Gustavo Dudamel, was recently appointed misc director of the LA Philharmonic, marking out the competition as an event which identifies the future stars. The 2007 competition featured 12 competitors from Germany, Egypt, Russia, USA, Britain. And Busan-born Sung Shi-yeon … [Read More]

The Classical Hallyu

Rain, BoA and their like are not the only singers to be known outside of Korea. In the classical music world, Jo Sumi has long been an international megastar. But there is an up-and-coming collection of Korean singers making their way in the highly competitive world of classical music. At the recent Maria Callas opera … [Read More]

An offer he could refuse

The Japan Times discloses Kim Jong-il’s love of Western classical music, and of one interpreter thereof in particular. Seiji Ozawa, formerly chief conductor of the prestigious Boston Symphony Orchestra, and now at the Vienna State Opera, received an approach from the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun), at Kim’s request, to become conductor … [Read More]

Sunwook Kim triumphs at Leeds piano competition

Thanks to Aidan Foster-Carter for the following: It was a notable night for Korea at the finals of the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition 2006. Held triennially, this is one of the world’s leading prizes. Past winners include Radu Lupu, Murray Perahia, Dmitri Alexeev, and Artur Pizarro. To those illustrious names, add Sunwook Kim (above): at … [Read More]

North-themed update

The Xinhua newsagency reports the cordial meeting between Kim Jong-Il’s brother-in-law Jang Song Taek and a member of the Chinese politbureau, as the DPRK’s tour of Chinese economic zones draws to a close. Meanwhile, Yoduk story, the musical based in a North Korean concentration camp, is a sell-out success. The BBC is now featuring the … [Read More]