London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

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Selected publications

  • Booklist: World Music (8 titles)
    • KAYA to perform at the KCC

      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 … [Read More]

      Concert notes: Sooeun Kwak with La-on G at the KCC

      For the third event in the KCC’s concert series this year we were presented with Sooeun Kwak’s gayageum ensemble, “La-on G”. The ensemble’s name is a combination of the Korean word for “pleasant”, and “G” standing for any and all of Gayageum, Green, Global and Generation. The music performed by the ensemble is all composed … [Read More]

      Festival visit: Jasmine Gwangju

      Gwangju seems an event from the distant past, but in fact was only 31 years ago. This year, the archives which document the history of that brief uprising were listed by UNESCO in their Memory of the World register. With perfect timing, bearing in mind the democratic uprisings in the Arab world this year, the … [Read More]

      Gayageum, Be the Legend at the KCC

      Notice of a Gayageum concert tomorrow evening at the Cultural Centre. Judging by the names of the items on the programme and the accompanying photograph, this looks to be a concert that will include modern compositions for the modern version of the gayageum. Sooeun Kwak and La-on G Gayageum Ensemble: Gayageum, Be the Legend at … [Read More]

      Concert notes: Scattered Rhythms

      I’m not quite sure what I was expecting from the Jazz / Gugak collaboration involving Australian jazz drummer Simon Barker on 11 April 2011, but I certainly wasn’t expecting a long drum solo. Companions was probably the virtuoso highlight of the evening, a drum solo in which Simon Barker managed to convey the sounds of … [Read More]

      The inaugural KCC Concert 2011: Tori Ensemble

      One of the KCC’s initiatives this year is to start bringing Korean music, including traditional music, to a London audience. The first of these concerts in on Monday 7 February. The KCC Concerts Tori Ensemble HEO Yoon-jeong and KANG Kwon-soon This inaugural concert of 2011 brings traditional Korean music to a modern audience, Ms. Heo … [Read More]

      Concert notes: Baramgot at the South Bank

      When Baramgot visited London two years ago they played to a sparsely populated mediaeval church in the middle of the Barbican complex. This year, the performance was in the more comfortable environment of the Purcell Room, and the audience was much bigger. What we gained in comfort was somewhat lost in atmosphere – the echoing … [Read More]

      Baramgot at the South Bank

      Baramgot’s Barbican concert in 2008 was undoubtedly the live performance of the year. Won Il’s creative traditional Korean music ensemble are in town this weekend to perform at the Thames Festival, and will be staying to give a concert at the Purcell Room on 13 September. Too often the reinvention of traditional music can turn … [Read More]

      Kaya launch their website

      Congratulations to KAYA, Ji Eun Jung (Kayagum) & Sung Min Jeon (Guitar), on the launch of their website and two albums: http://bit.ly/dwbkR8 #. And if you go to Kaya Restaurant in Albemarle Street you’ll likely hear some of their music being played. [Read More]

      2010 Travel Diary #12: A Meeting with Sorea

      Monday 3 May 2010. In an unprepossessing building in a small backstreet in trendy Gangnam is a compact office which manages a gugak fusion band which briefly caught the spirit of a nation. At the height of the Korea, Sparkling promotional campaign, when the Korean Tourism Organisation was promoting Korea as a place with ancient … [Read More]