Calendar

Classical Music“Ars Nova”: The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra is holding its “Ars Nova” concert series on April 16 and 19, dedicated to contemporary classical music. Under the theme of “Vienna,” a chamber unit of the SPO will perform music by Alban Berg, Hans Abrahamsen’s rearrangement of Arnold Schonberg, Georg Friedrich Haas, Bae Dong-jin and Olga Neuwirth at 7:30 p.m. on April 16 at Sejong Chamber Hall. On April 19 at 8 p.m. at LG Arts Center, the music of Charles Ives, Bernd Zimmermann, Albert

April 12, 2013

List: McCartney is U.K.’s richest musician

LONDON (AP) ― Let it be ― as in billionaire.Paul McCartney remains Britain’s wealthiest musician, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.The newspaper estimated Thursday that the ex-Beatle shares a 680 million pound ($1.05 billion) fortune with his third wife, Nancy Shevell, whose family owns a U.S. trucking company.McCartney has topped the musicians’ list every year since it was first compiled in 1989. Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is ranked second, with an estimated 620 million pound fortune.A

April 12, 2013

Clearer rubbing of newly found Goguryeo stele in China released

A clearer ink rubbing of a recently discovered rare stele from the ancient Korean kingdom of Goguryeo was made public for the first time in South Korea Thursday.The rubbed copy is expected to serve as a crucial catalyst for the study of the monument by local historians since it has the best quality of all others that have been released so far.The monument believed to date from Goguryeo, which controlled the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and northeastern China for more than 700 years unti

April 11, 2013

NYC Met Museum gets $1b Cubist collection donation

Leonard Lauder, honorary chairman of cosmetics firm Estee Lauder, has given New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art an entire collection of Cubist art worth $1 billion.The collection which Lauder has assembled over more than four decades includes 78 works of Picasso, Braque, Gris and Leger, making it the biggest art donation ever made.The Met has long been trying to secure major artworks from the early 20th century. Thomas Campbell, CEO of the Met, said, “Lauder’s gift would be truly transformati

April 10, 2013

Classic opera music given high-tech treatment

Ever-evolving computer technology has already made inroads into many fields of arts, bringing even those uninitiated in art closer to what is normally considered the high arts.An ambitious project has recently kicked off, marrying one of the trickiest genres of music ― opera ― with a cutting-edge 3-D media faade. Arguably the first such attempt in the world, all eyes are on it to see if it can nurture a new generation of opera buffs. At the “IAM Opera Gala 2013” to be held at Seoul Arts Center O

April 9, 2013

Joseon palaces come to life

In celebration of spring, palaces are opening their doors wide to those who want to know more about them and the stories they contain. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Monday that Korean traditional musical concerts will be held at Joseon-period palaces in Seoul through autumn. At the royal garden and Nakseonjae building in Changdeokggung Palace, stage actors Park Jeong-ja and Jeong Dong-hwan will perform short plays of love stories and other anecdotes from the Joseon era (1392-1

April 8, 2013

[Newsmaker] Mega publishers merge to fight e-books

What do George Orwell’s “1984” and E.L. James’ “Fifty Shades of Grey” have in common? Starting later on in 2013, they’ll both be owned by the same company after a merger is completed between publishing heavyweights Penguin and Random House. The two have received unconditional approval from several regulatory commissions on competition in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with the latest coming from the European Union on Saturday. The merger does not “raise competition concerns, in par

April 7, 2013

‘World’s greatest’ chef Ferran Adria seeks digital legacy

HONG KONG (AFP) ― From foie gras noodles and liquid olives to air baguettes and mimetic peanuts, much of what elBulli chef Ferran Adria and his team created across their nearly 2,000 dishes defies transcription.Two years after closing the beachside Spanish restaurant ― repeatedly lauded as the world’s best by those lucky enough to have dined there ― Adria says he is now focused on preserving its legacy for future generations.Widely regarded as the world’s best chef and credited with having chang

April 7, 2013

Songdo Good Market to kick off on April 27

Songdo Good Market, an annual flea market aimed at spreading green and sharing culture in Korea, will be back on April 27 at the Songdo Canal Walk inside the Songdo International Business District in Incheon. Starting on that day, the 2013 market will continue to be held on the last Saturday of May, September and October from 1 p.m. through 6 p.m., said Gale International Korea, developer of the Songdo IBD. The organizer said about 300 sales booths will be installed along the main stream where p

April 7, 2013

Calendar

Pop music“Zedd in Seoul”: The young Russian-German DJ and music producer Zedd is a classically trained musician who began playing the piano at the age of 4 and the drums later on. In 2002, when Zedd was just 12 years old, he joined the heavy metal rock band trio Dioramic and began composing and producing music. In 2009, he discovered the world of house music after hearing French electronic duo Justice. This led Zedd to the path of DJing and producing electronica music and he released his debut h

April 5, 2013

Psy wins innovation award

Psy has been included on the list of winners recognized for their “disruptive innovation” during the past year, according to the website of Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards. Psy was among the 19 recipients of the award given to a person or organization for their achievements that had a significant impact on their respective industry.  “The recent online obsession over Psy’s video for ‘Gangnam Style’ has turned the Korean artist into a global phenomenon,” read the description of Psy on the we

April 5, 2013

Louvre names antiquities expert as its new director

PARIS (AP) ― France’s Louvre museum is getting a new director ― the man who is leading the restoration of its most famous Greek sculpture and has his hands in some of the institutions latest efforts to expand its reach.Jean-Luc Martinez, a French specialist in Greek, Roman and Etruscan antiquities who has worked at the Louvre since 2007, was appointed by President Francois Hollande for a three-year term. Martinez, 49, is leading the restoration of the famed headless Winged Victory of Samothrace

April 4, 2013

Exhibition: diverse origins of English words

The British Council opened a new exhibition called “The English Effect” in Britain on Wednesday that introduces many English words with foreign origins.According to the exhibition, “booze” came from the medieval Dutch word “busen,” meaning “to drink to excess.” It was first used by beggars and thieves in the 1500s.Unlike people’s belief that “bungalow” was first used by house builders who had to “bung a low roof” due to the shortage of bricks, it is from Bengal, India. It is said to have been t

April 4, 2013

Buddha’s sarira removed from Bulguksa pagoda

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province ― What are believed to be the sarira of Sakyamuni enclosed in urns kept inside the Three-Storied Stone Pagoda at Bulguksa Temple in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, were removed on Tuesday in preparation for repairs to the nearly 1,300-year-old structure.This is the first time the bead-like objects said to have been found among the cremated ashes of Buddha were removed from the stone pagoda and shown to the public since 1966.Byun Young-sup, the newly appoi

April 2, 2013

Welcome to the holy grail of toilets

The following is part of a series exploring unique museums, collections and the passionate collectors behind them. ― Ed.The late Sim Jae-duck, then the mayor of Suwon, was elated when his city was chosen to host some of the 2002 World Cup games. However, when he was asked what he intended to do about updating the public restrooms in the city, the mayor was reportedly jolted into action to improve the quality and hygiene of the city’s public restrooms. His dedication to the clean-up efforts of Su

April 2, 2013