EXO to return with ‘Exodus’ on March 30

K-pop sensation EXO will make a grand return to the music scene with its new album “Exodus” in late March, its label SM Entertainment said Thursday. The band’s second full-length album, which comes nearly a year after its debut album “Overdose,” will hit stores on March 31.  EXO. (Yonhap)Some tracks, including its lead single “Call Me Baby,” were unveiled during EXO’s five-day local concert series held early this month in Seoul. This time, the boy band aims to promote the upcoming album by relea

March 19, 2015

Erasing by drawing thousands of times

At first, it doesn’t seem like art befitting the white cube gallery space. The pitch-black piece of paper looks as if someone burned it until it was about to turn to ashes. Yet, the work, currently on exhibit at Arario Gallery, sums up the lifetime endeavor of first-generation Korean avant-garde artist Choi Byung-so. Based in Daegu, the birthplace of Korean avant-garde art, Choi has been drawing repetitive lines and circles on newspapers with ballpoint pens and pencils for more than 40 years.  I

March 18, 2015

Tongyeong music fest to pay tribute to Isang Yun through ‘Voyage’

This year’s Tongyeong International Music Festival will pay homage to the late composer Isang Yun in his hometown of Tongyeong through the festival’s new theme of “Voyage.”The festival will commemorate the 20th anniversary of Yun’s death.The Korean-German composer was praised for his constant struggle to bridge the musical gap between Europe and Asia and his personal “voyage” to create different styles and sounds with his compositions. The annual TIMF will be opening its curtains this season on

March 18, 2015

Miss A to release new album March 30

K-pop female quartet Miss A will release its new album on March 30, the group announced. The group unveiled three teaser images for the upcoming album “Colors” on its official website, with a release date set for March 30. Tracks will be made available to listen to from midnight on March 29, according to the group, while a showcase event for the album will be held at 7 p.m. on March 30. Composed of two Chinese members, Wang Feifei and Meng Jia, and two Korean members, Min and Suzy, Miss A debute

March 18, 2015

Barakatt’s recent concert to be aired on MBC

Those who missed the opportunity to see Steve Barakatt perform live at his recent concert can now see the show on television. The pianist and composer’s recent concert, “Ad Vitam Aeternam,” will be broadcast on TV Art Stage, a late-night MBC music program that features artists from diverse genres of music.  Steve Barakatt performs with the Herald Philharmonic Orchestra at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall on March 8. (Rainbow Bridge Story)Barakatt, whose songs have long been loved in Korea and

March 16, 2015

Mother-of-pearl art goes modern

Artist Kim Young-jun is holding a solo exhibition, presenting his modern interpretations of traditional lacquer and mother-of-pearl art, at the Korea Art Center in Insa-dong, Seoul. The exhibition presents 45 works, including the latest “Cosmos” series and modern furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl, as well as the decorated version of Microsoft’s video game console Xbox ordered by Bill Gates. “I developed the new ‘Cosmos’ series from my round lacquer paintings inlaid with mother-of-pearl. It p

March 16, 2015

Crazy Horse Paris to offer nude cabaret show in Seoul

Crazy Horse Paris, an internationally renowned performance house from France, will officially make its way to Seoul next month to perform its signature nude cabaret show in the country, organizers announced Monday.Popularly known as “Le Crazy,” the French cabaret house recently gained final approval from the Korean authorities to stage its famous artistic nude show here for audiences over age 19, according to W&FUN. Crazy Horse Paris, considered one of France’s hallmark cabaret houses alongside

March 16, 2015

[Up & Coming] Art that makes you cringe

Up & Coming is a series of interviews with emerging artists in various fields of arts and entertainment. ― Ed.Choi Sun’s paintings make people step back and cringe. His recent work “Bloody Excrement (Integral Calculus Painting),” an abstract painting in red and white, delves into the shapes of his own excrement. And this is how he made it: The artist took a laxative that patients take before colonoscopies. In the mess he got from the induced bowel disorder, he tried to find shapes, thinking that

March 15, 2015

Calendar

Dance“Multiplicity. Forms of Silence and Emptiness”: The Universal Ballet Korea will be staging Nacho Duato’s “Multiplicity, Forms of Silence and Emptiness” as its 2015 season opener. The 1999 ballet is one of Duato’s best-known works and landed the choreographer the prestigious Benois de la Dance prize. As homage to classical music great Johann Sebastian Bach, the two-act ballet tells the story of Bach’s music by combining both baroque music and modern choreography. The Universal Ballet Korea’s

March 13, 2015

Eyelike: The Mavericks, James McMurtry, Kelly Clarkson

1 channel is all the Mavericks need on ‘Mono’The Mavericks“Mono”(Valory) The Mavericks have always been a rootsy band, plying musical turf from Havana to Nashville via Miami. Here their sound is more retro than ever, recalling the era when these sorts of songs were best heard on small radios and big jukeboxes. ”Mono” was recorded in -- you guessed it -- mono. Kids, that means everything was loaded into one channel, including horns, accordion, bouncy beats and Raul Malo’s glorious tenor.The Maver

March 13, 2015

Radio legend Bae Chul-soo celebrates 25 years on air

Korea’s oldest and arguably most popular radio show, “Bae Chul-soo’s Music Camp,” has been introducing Western pop music to Korean listeners for more than two decades. Its playlist covers an array of genres and eras, playing everything from classic bands like The Beatles, Queen and ABBA to the more recent Maroon 5 and Coldplay. Celebrating 25 years on air, legendary DJ Bae Chul-soo will host live shows entitled “Live is Life” for three days, accompanied by 12 leading Korean bands. From March 13-

March 13, 2015

Korea’s top orchestras in trouble

Trouble is deepening at Korea’s two biggest orchestras ― the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and the KBS Symphony Orchestra. At the Seoul Philharmonic, the rebellion of employees against their boss last year led to a police raid of the orchestra’s office while its music director, Chung Myung-whun, faces a possible police investigation. Over at the KBS Symphony Orchestra, which is on the brink of losing 70 percent of its musicians, the trouble has a more familiar cause. It’s about job security. On W

March 12, 2015

[Herald Review] New visuals enliven ‘Andrea Chenier’

In his first ever opera production in Asia, Italian opera mastermind Stefano Poda has revitalized the seldom-staged tale of poetry, love and betrayal, “Andrea Chenier.”Having worked on nearly 100 opera productions throughout his illustrious career, Poda has taken his relentless and scrupulous eye for visual and artistic perfection in Umberto Giodano’s masterpiece.Although the repertoire is often noted as encompassing the essence of verismo opera, “Andrea Chenier” is all too often overlooked by m

March 12, 2015

Madonna adds another Paris concert after first sells out

Madonna performs at the Brit Awards 2015 at the 02 Arena in London, Feb. 25. (AP-Yonhap)PARIS (AFP) – Madonna has added a second concert date in Paris in December after the first that went on sale this week sold out in five minutes, the promoters said Wednesday."Given the demand, Madonna has added a second concert in Paris as part of her worldwide 'Rebel Heart Tour': Thursday December 10, 2015," the company Live Nation said.The 56-year-old diva is playing at the Bercy stadium in the French capit

March 11, 2015

Celebrating the legacy of Bach through modern movement

In homage to the legendary German composer Johann Sebastian Bach and his countless masterpieces, the Universal Ballet Korea will be staging its upcoming production of “Multiplicity, Forms of Silence and Emptiness.”Devoted to the retelling of Bach’s life and death through a two-act modern ballet, “Multiplicity, Forms of Silence and Emptiness” is the brainchild of artistic director and choreographer Nacho Duato of the Staatsballett in Berlin.According to the director, the production is an expressi

March 11, 2015

Yang In-mo wins Premio Paganini violin competition

Local violinist Yang In-mo, 20, has become the first Korean to ever win first place at the annual International Violin Competition Premio Paganini in Genoa, Italy. The young Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation violinist not only took home the top prize at this year’s 54th International Violin Competition Premio Paganini, but was also awarded three secondary special awards including the “Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa” for being the competition’s youngest finalist. Yang will receive 25,600 euro

March 10, 2015

Suffering, transformation and redemption

Renowned video artist Bill Viola opened his third exhibition in Seoul last week with an unusual introduction. Against a slow-motion video, he stood and read his journal dated Feb. 4, 1999, about his encounter with an old man at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The man, whom he saw as he was entering the gallery, was lying unconscious on the cold museum floor with paramedics pumping his chest. The background video, meanwhile, showed five people changing their facial emotions so slowly that it alm

March 10, 2015

Venice Biennale invites three rising Korean artists

Three emerging Korean artists have been invited to the upcoming main exhibition at the Venice Biennale in May, Arts Council Korea said Monday. The state arts agency said three artists ― Kim Ayoung, Nam Hwa-yeon and Im Heung-soon ― have been selected to showcase their works at the international exhibition where 136 artists from 53 countries will be presenting their art. The three Koreans are among the 88 who will be introduced to the global audience in Venice for the first time.  Kim Ayoung (Arts

March 9, 2015