Ultra rocks Asia with radio-friendly groove

TOKYO (AFP) -- Once a modest beach party in Miami, the uber-hip Ultra Music Festival has bold plans to further expand the global juggernaut after another year of empire building.While techno-heads accuse Ultra of helping to “commercialize” electronic dance music, or EDM, in recent years, 120,000 rain-soaked revelers appeared to heartily disagree after being whipped into a frenzy in Tokyo this past weekend.“There’s a place for all genres of electronic music,” co-founder Russell Faibisch told AFP.

PerformanceSept. 22, 2016

Two foreign conductors tapped for Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra

Two foreign conductors have been named to lead the Seoul Philharmonic, the orchestra said in a press release Thursday.Thierry Fischer, music director of the Utah Symphony Orchestra, and Markus Stenz, chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, will fill the position that has remained vacant since former conductor Chung Myung-whun stepped down in December.Fischer and Stenz will assume the titles, principal guest conductor and conductor-in-residence, respectively, according to

PerformanceSept. 22, 2016

Digitally unwrapped scroll reveals earliest Old Testament scripture

MIAMI (AFP) - An extremely fragile, ancient Hebrew scroll has been digitally unwrapped for the first time, revealing the earliest copy ever found of an Old Testament Bible scripture, researchers said Wednesday.Known as the En-Gedi scroll, it contains text from the Book of Leviticus, and dates at least to the third or fourth century, possibly earlier, according to the report in the journal Science Advances.The deciphering of its contents is described in the journal as a “significant discovery in

CultureSept. 22, 2016

Black American journey finally enshrined in national museum

WASHINGTON (AP) -- When the Smithsonian Museum of African-American History and Culture opens this week alongside the Washington Monument and the National Museum of American History, it will firmly -- and finally --anchor the black experience in the nation’s narrative.“In 1915 … they say, ‘There should be a monument. There should be a memorial that honors our contribution,’” said Michelle Wilkinson, one of the museum’s curators. “Not just a pile of stone, or a shaft. It needs to be a museum.”Fift

CultureSept. 22, 2016

NCCK to open with foreigner-friendly ‘L’Orfeo’

Greek mythologies will mesh with the sounds of modern pansori in the National Changgeuk Company of Korea’s upcoming 2016-2017 season opening production of “L’Orfeo.” Directed by Lee So-young, who was behind last year’s powerful pansori musical “Song of the Red Cliff,” the upcoming Korean rendition of the historical production is steering clear of classic operatic vocals. Instead, audiences can enjoy Lee’s changgeuk -- traditional Korean opera -- re-envisioned with the story’s contemporary twist

PerformanceSept. 21, 2016

Jonathan Safran Foer’s ‘Here I Am’ depicts a marriage falling apart

“Here I Am”By Jonathan Safran FoerFarrar, Straus and Giroux (592 pages, $28)True to the crumbling marriage at its center, what’s best in “Here I Am” — Jonathan Safran Foer’s moving, maddening and messy novel — comes early.Julia and Jacob have been married for 16 years and have three boys. In the beginning, they’d committed to a policy of complete honesty, convinced they could tell each other everything and be stronger for doing so.But by the time we meet them, Jacob is sexting a work colleague a

BooksSept. 21, 2016

Harmonies, strife in Love’s Beach Boys tale

“Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy”By Mike Love with James S. HirschBlue Rider Press (448 pages, $28)Mike Love is acutely aware that he is perceived as a villain.In his new autobiography, “Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy,” Love puts the conventional public framing of his relationship to his cousin and musical collaborator Brian Wilson simply: “For those who believe that Brian walks on water, I will always be the Antichrist.”But every villain is the hero of his own story, and “Good

BooksSept. 21, 2016

‘Little Nothing’ a fierce fairy tale

Fairy tales waste no time getting under the skin. They pretend to be innocent, once upon a time and all that, but they never are. The darkened wood, the hooded stranger, the soup served at dinner hide only briefly a more sinister intent.Freud called it uncanny, this transfiguring of the familiar into something weird and powerful, and writers have long reveled in making this leap. Between reality and fantasy is a delicious brew of dissonance and disorientation, all in the service of greater truth

BooksSept. 21, 2016

‘The Oliver Stone Experience’ a deep dive into monumental movie career

“The Oliver Stone Experience” By Matt Zoller SeitzAbrams (480 pages, $50)Is there another living American director with a greater run of movies than Oliver Stone? The dozen films he directed over a span of 13 years, from 1986-1999, form a body of work unparalleled in contemporary cinema. They came one after the other -- artful provocations, sometimes clouded in disreputable airs, that delved into recent history and modern-day affairs with a defiant ferocity and style: “Salvador,” “Platoon,” “Wa

BooksSept. 21, 2016

Infinite tops global charts

K-pop boy band Infinite is sweeping charts at home and abroad with its sixth mini album “Infinite Only,” released Monday. The seven-member act has not only topped real-time and daily music charts on Hanteo and Synnara domestically, but also dominated global iTunes charts in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore, according to Infinite’s management agency Woollim Entertainment on Wednesday. 　 Written by producer group Rphabet’s BEE, the album’s lead track “The Eye

PerformanceSept. 21, 2016

Park Hyo-shin to return with new album

Korean singer-songwriter Park Hyo-shin is gearing up for a return to the spotlight. 　Known for his 2014 hit singles “Wild Flower” and “Happy Together,” Park will be announcing a new album next month, according to the artist’s management agency Glove Entertainment on Wednesday. This will be his first full-length album in six years.　Created in collaboration with American mastering engineer Tom Coyne -- who has worked with global pop icons, including Adele and Sam Smith -- the upcoming album is bei

PerformanceSept. 21, 2016

Artday to hold September auction

Herald Artday, a subsidiary of Herald Corp., is holding an online auction from Sept. 23-27, presenting major works of art by contemporary Korean and international artists. 　The art auction will feature numerous works of renowned Korean artists. In addition to painter Hwang Yeom-soo’s “Roses,” the lot includes Lee Man-ik’s “Family” series that captures the spirit of the traditional Korean household with a modern twist, hanji (traditional Korean paper) artist Chun Kwang-young’s texture-inspired se

PerformanceSept. 21, 2016

Global writers to engage in conversation at Seoul International Writers’ Festival

Writers from around the world will exchange ideas and share literary works at the Seoul International Writers’ Festival taking place from Sept. 25-Oct. 1 at the Arko Art Center and Daehakro Arts Theater in northeastern Seoul. 　One of the festival’s programs “Free Talks” will pair up writers to engage in conversation about their works and the theme of this year’s festival, “the forgotten and the unforgettable” in literature. The talks will take place at the Daehakro Arts Theater from Sept. 26-30.

BooksSept. 21, 2016

Critics pick favorites at upcoming Met Opera season

NEW YORK (AP) -- Two tragedies of love and death, along with the inspiring story of a patriot who leads his people against foreign oppressors, top the critics’ picks for the upcoming Metropolitan Opera season.The Associated Press asked music reviewers and writers around the country which single production they were most looking forward to. Of the two dozen who responded, virtually all chose one of these three:Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde,” which opens the season on Sept. 26. Tim Smith of The Bal

PerformanceSept. 21, 2016