London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

K-music 2020 online: Yoon Jeong Heo + Vincent Peirani

Some of the highlights of previous K-music festivals have been the collaboration between Korean and Western performers. Here’s the first such event in the 2020 festival. K-Music Encounters I: Yoon Jeong Heo (from Black String) + Vincent Peirani Tuesday 3 November, 7pm Watch at www.youtube.com/thekccuk or www.youtube.com/seriousmusiclive In the first episode of K-Music Encounters, geomungo … [Read More]

Black String win Songlines Music Award

Congratulations to Korean fusion group Black String, whose debut album on ACT, Mask Dance, won the Songlines Music Award in the Asia and Pacific category. Black String, who played at the 2017 K-music festival, were in town for the awards ceremony in Brixton on 20 October, where they played music from the album. [Read More]

A Review of London Korean cultural year 2017

It feels like it’s been an incredibly busy year, and as I come to write this review I realise that, much more so than in previous years, many of the things that have been memorable I haven’t had time to write about – and maybe won’t. I’ve written separately about the films it was possible … [Read More]

Gig review: Kathryn Tickell + Black String

After witnessing so many astounding gigs at Club Inegales, where musicians from different cultures come together to create new and unrepeatable sounds, it really should not surprise me when a collaboration that looks slightly weird on paper is actually a stunning success when it happens. Collaboration, between Korean and British-based musicians, is one of the … [Read More]

Tim Garland’s Korean collaboration: Sinawi and the Blues

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, … [Read More]

The London Korean Links Awards 2011

The sixth of LKL’s annual unscientific and very personal recognition of the best things of last year. And in the field of film, books and CDs what is encouraging is that there is so much to choose from. There were also plenty of good Korean cultural events in London, Edinburgh and elsewhere, but there was … [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]