London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Fringe review: Ensemble SU — The Party

Ensemble SU is a five-piece fusion group formed in 2010 and led by Jihye “JJ” Hur on 25-string gayageum with Yein Kim on haegeum, Myunghyun Park on cello, Sangjung Lee on keyboard and Deokhwan Kim playing Korean and western percussion (and not to be confused with a similarly named jazz / gugak fusion trio based … [Read More]

I, Kid – the opening performance

I, Kid is now the seventh exhibition by the Korean Artists Association UK to be held at the KCC, and their 9th performance. This year’s performance and exhibition aimed to give expression to a feeling of nostalgia for one’s childhood – and for most artists participating in the event, this meant their childhood back in Korea. Previous … [Read More]

The reviews of ZICO’s London gig

The general verdict is that ZICO’s 5 January gig in Camden was 40 minutes of excellence, but as for the rest of it, well it wasn’t what people paid for. A couple of vlogs below, first from KpopSteve: and second from GZBKarma: … and a couple of reviews – from KondaKorea | MACG Magazine | … [Read More]

Gig Review: Kyungso Park and Andy Sheppard in the Albert Hall’s Elgar Room

Recent collaborations between British and Korean musicians have not always been successful. A planned experiment between jazz trumpeter Guy Barker and Samulnori founder Kim Duk-soo never happened because the latter went awol when Barker came to visit. Instead, having already been booked for the 2008 Dano Festival in Trafalgar Square, Barker appeared briefly on stage … [Read More]

Concert notes: Jeong Ga Ak Hoe at the British Museum

Although the official opening concert of K-Music 2016 is Nah Youn-sun with Ulf Wakenius on 20 September, the British Museum’s Chuseok celebrations in collaboration with the KCC have given us several performances by the contemporary gugak group Jeong Ga Ak Hoe. They presented a programme of traditional music in the Korean Gallery on the morning … [Read More]

Concert notes: Gamin and Notes Inégales at the Spitalfields Festival

When we previewed the double bill at Wilton’s Music Hall featuring Purcell with Korean, Middle Eastern and western instruments, improvisation and more, we had an inkling that the evening might be something special. And we were darn right. This was music making and entertainment that is rare to find anywhere. First, the Purcell. King Arthur / the … [Read More]

Neon Bunny – please come back to London soon!

London has been doing well recently for live music: from B.A.P to Jambinai via Dead Buttons and more, there has been something for everyone. But the artist that I personally have been looking forward to seeing more than the rest is Neon Bunny (야광토끼) – whose debut album Seoulight made it into the list of … [Read More]