Bobby Mcferrin to hold two-day concert in Seoul

American singer-songwriter Bobby Mcferrin, best known for his 1988 hit “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” will be making his way to Seoul to perform two back-to-back concerts in March. The 10-time Grammy Award winner is best known for his signature style of overtone singing and jazzy, scat-like vocals. McFerrin’s most iconic hit, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” became the first a cappella song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and went on to snag three Grammy wins for Song of the Year, Record of the

Jan. 22, 2015

Keeping Nam June Paik’s legacy alive

No one better predicted how mass media and the Internet would shape our lives today than Nam June Paik. In 1974, the visionary Korean artist came up with the term “Electronic Superhighway,” coined from the U.S. interstate highway system to foretell the Internet’s complex network. A pioneer in video art, Paik had so many new ideas that had never been thought of. But to visualize them, he needed technological assistance. Enter Lee Jung-sung. For over 20 years, the electronics technician worked wit

Jan. 20, 2015

I wanted to quit music: Jung Yong-hwa

Jung Yong-hwa. (FNC Entertainment)Jung Yong-hwa, a member of K-pop group CNBLUE, said Monday that he had gone through difficult times and wanted to quit music. “People do not know this, but I have been through rough times in the past few years. There were times when I wanted to quit everything,” the 25-year-old singer-actor revealed, without giving more details. The remarks came during a showcase in Seoul on Monday to unveil his first solo album “One Fine Day,” a day before its official release

Jan. 20, 2015

4Minute to return in February

4Minute. (Cube Entertainment)K-pop girl group 4Minute will stage a return in February. The group announced it through its official Facebook account Tuesday, posting a link to a 3-D motion graphic clip on YouTube. Titled “4Minute ― REVAMPED,” the clip depicts a purple orb surfacing from underwater, heralding the group’s return to the local music scene. As the orb levitates, the overlying music transitions from mystical to dramatic. The suspense escalates until the orb explodes, revealing the numb

Jan. 20, 2015

Singer Kim Jang-hoon probed for smoking on Paris flight

Kim Jang-hoonINCHEON (Yonhap) ― Pop singer Kim Jang-hoon has recently been investigated for smoking aboard a home-bound plane from France, prosecutors said Tuesday.Kim was accused of smoking a cigarette on Thursday in a toilet of a Korean Air flight bound for Incheon International Airport, South Korea’s main gateway, after leaving France’s Charles de Gaulle Airport.On Monday, the 50-year-old singer, who is well-known for his donations to charity groups and other good deeds, was summarily indicte

Jan. 20, 2015

Chung lays out conditions for contract renewal

Conductor Chung Myung-whun on Monday laid out preconditions for his contract renewal as music director of Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. Speaking at a press conference at the ensemble’s rehearsal room in Seoul, the conductor revealed that, contrary to media reports, he hadn’t agreed to stay on. “I am currently without any contract,” said Chung, whose three-year contract expired at the end of last year. Talks over a possible renewal had been delayed for weeks due to an internal dispute at the orch

Jan. 19, 2015

K-pop’s next big thing?

A fresh wave of artists will burst onto the K-pop scene this year, as each record label is looking to add some spice of its own to the already-saturated industry. All rookies are hoping to be the next EXO, but only a few will survive, much less rise to the top. In the cutthroat world of K-pop, it’s said that the fate of newcomers is determined within the first three weeks of their debut. Here’s a look at some of the new groups or solo artists in the K-pop pipeline. Girl groupsSonamoo, a seven-me

Jan. 18, 2015

Cuban art in spotlight amid U.S. detente

HAVANA (AFP) ― In Juan Roberto Diago’s studio at his remodeled 1920s house, five Americans scrutinized the Cuban artist’s work, wearing baseball caps and sunglasses.“That’s a piece I bought last time I was here,” said Robert Penta, a 33-year old attorney, pointing at a red and brown canvas leaning against the wall.It’s the second time in as many months that this group from Louisville, Kentucky, has traveled to Cuba on a special art license.They wasted no time following the historic rapprochement

Jan. 18, 2015

[Herald Interview] Starsailor reunites, returns to Korea for ‘5 Nights’

Hyundai Card’s ongoing Culture Project series kicked off the year with 5 Nights, Seoul’s first large-scale concert event of the year.A weeklong festival of live music, the company’s latest culture project promised rock-lovers five nights of performances. Originally scheduled to perform were Avenged Sevenfold, followed by Bastille, Starsailor, Rudimental and 22-year-old Icelandic folk singer-songwriter Asgeir, who wrapped up the festival with his solo show on Saturday.However, the “five nights” s

Jan. 18, 2015

Eyelike: D’Angelo’s ‘Black Messiah’ plays to message of rising up

D’Angelo’s ‘Black Messiah’ plays to message of rising upD’Angelo and The Vanguard“Black Messiah”(RCA Records)The phrase “long-awaited album” gets tossed around quite a bit. But “Black Messiah,” D’Angelo’s follow-up to 2000’s “Voodoo,” comes after a 14-year wait.And the album arrives as demonstrators across the nation demand change after the recent slayings of unarmed black men by police in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York.The album title is about people rising up, D’Angelo said, and his songs --

Jan. 16, 2015

Millet works reveal turning point in art

Four masterpieces of Jean-Francois Millet depicting farmers and shepherds will be on view in Seoul for the first time. The touring exhibition, entitled “Millet, Barbizon and Fontainebleau,” started in Boston and stopped through Japan before arriving in Seoul on Jan. 23 with 64 paintings, including major works of Millet and his contemporaries of the Barbizon School, the critical art movement that acted as a bridge realism and impressionism. The exhibition will showcase major works of Millet, most

Jan. 15, 2015

Taeyang, BEAST stand out at Golden Disc Awards

TaeyangTaeyang, a member of boy band Big Bang, won the grand prize at the 29th Golden Disc Awards in Beijing on Wednesday.He snagged the Digital Single of the Year, regarded as the top honor of the day, with his mega-hit solo track “Eyes, Nose, Lips.” K-pop boy band BEAST was another winner of the day, capturing three honors ― Main Award, Popularity Award and the Best Male Performance Award. Another Popularity Award went to long-standing girl group Girls’ Generation. The Main Award for the 10 di

Jan. 15, 2015

Exploitation at the ends of the Earth

With images of the North and South Poles becoming cliche through overuse in environmental documentaries, artist Han Sung-pil’s photographs of the Arctic and Antarctica offer a different view of these vulnerable regions. He focuses on the history of human exploitation in the world’s least explored places since the time when early European explorers discovered the lands and their rich natural resources. He made several trips to the Arctic and Antarctica from 2013 to 2014 searching for traces of ex

Jan. 12, 2015

K-pop stars see earnings rocket

  Girls’ Generation (SM Entertainment)As K-pop continues to lead the Korean Wave, singers are enjoying their sharpest ever increase in income, government statistics show.According to the National Tax Service, the average yearly income of singers rose 72.2 percent in three years between 2010 and 2013, by far the sharpest hike among all Korean celebrity groups. The average annual salary came in at 46.74 million won ($42,000) in 2013, more than doubling from 26.97 million won in 2010. Over the same

Jan. 12, 2015

Steve Barakatt to present symphony with Herald Phil

New Age pianist and composer Steve Barakatt will present his largest production ― symphony “Ad Vitam Aeternam” ― to Seoul audiences at a concert in March.Written in 16 movements for piano and a full-sized orchestra, the Canadian artist’s first symphonic composition is a musical journey through different stages of life and various aspects of the human condition ― from the physiological to the psychological, emotional and spiritual. The upcoming concert will also feature “Lullaby,” which Barakatt

Jan. 11, 2015

Eyelike: Criminal Designer

Minaj’s ‘Pinkprint’ delivers grown-up complexityNicki Minaj“The Pinkprint”(Young Money/Cash Money/Republic Records)Maybe we knew -- even in 2010 -- when Nicki Minaj released her debut set that beneath the fluorescent wigs and zany accents, there resided a real-life grown-up. On some level, we surely understood that the now 32-year-old rapper had complex emotions and a past, and all the things that make stars more like regular people and less like characters.But not until now, with her third rele

Jan. 9, 2015