Crayon Pop's comic code captivates fans

A motorcycle helmet, a polo shirt buttoned up to the neck and loose jogging pants under a skirt: These are the costumes that members of girl group Crayon Pop decided to wear while hitting the stage with their latest single “Bar Bar Bar.”When South Korea’s music industry is flocked by girl groups competing with each other to show who can be sexier or sweeter, Crayon Pop’s tactics to distinguish itself from others with a comic concept seems to be working well. Hwang Hyun-chang, the chief executive

Aug. 8, 2013

Cellist-conductor Chang continues sharing music through orchestra

Now dedicating the majority of her time to conducting, cellist and conductor Chang Han-na is one of the brightest conducting talents of her generation as she takes up the roles of music director of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. Both appointments immediately followed her debut appearances with the orchestras. QPO is one of only two professional orchestras in the Gulf region and TSO is a Norwegian professional orchestra that per

Aug. 7, 2013

Wind band festival to gather Korean, foreign ensembles

The 4th Korea International Wind Band Festival kicks off Aug. 25 with a grand opening ceremony at Gwanghwamun Plaza in Seoul. Under the slogan “Dynamic Korea,” the festival will feature bands and ensembles from Korea as well as abroad, with a select number of special invitees including world-renowned conductor Philippe Langlet and president of World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles Bert Alders. The opening ceremony for the festival will feature performances by Jeju Provincial Seogwi

Aug. 7, 2013

Webcam to broadcast from Andy Warhol’s U.S. grave

PITTSBURGH (AP) ― The Andy Warhol Museum is launching a live video feed from the pop artist’s gravesite to honor his 85th birthday.The project, a partnership with the EarthCam webcam network, was to go live Monday at midnight, the museum said.Warhol museum director Eric Shiner said the project is titled “Figment” because of a Warhol quote in which the artist said, “I always thought I’d like my own tombstone to be blank. No epitaph and no name. Well, actually, I’d like it to say, ‘Figment.’”The s

Aug. 6, 2013

O2 music fest offers alternative to summer rock circuit

With the summer music festival calendar crowded with large-scale rock events, a new music fest being inaugurated later this month promises a welcome break from the usual ear-splitting sounds of the season. The O2 Nami Island Music Festival 2013 was designed as a two-day summer music festival for those looking for non-rock music performances.Filling the small island with the sounds of folk music and easy-listening classical pieces, the O2 music festival offers music lovers an opportunity to camp

Aug. 6, 2013

Pyeongchang Special Music Festival features artists with disabilities

Organized by Special Olympics Korea and Love We Can, a group that specializes in setting up cultural events for those with intellectual disabilities, Pyeongchang Special Music Festival began Tuesday morning for a five-day run through Aug. 10 at Alpensia Resort in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province. Artists with intellectual disabilities from 12 different countries, as well as mentors and volunteer workers, will join in the festival, bringing 300 participants. The festival will include a wide variety

Aug. 6, 2013

[Photo News] Lim Kim to release new album in September

Singer Lim Kim announced Tuesday that she will release her second mini-album as a solo artist next month. “My second mini-album is slated to come out in September. I’m recording it right now, so please look forward to September!” Kim, whose real name is Kim Ye-rim, said via her Facebook page. Mystic89, the 20-year-old singer’s agency, said that Kim is currently putting the finishing touches on her new album. Kim is best known to the public as a member of singing duo Togewol. She and her band mat

Aug. 6, 2013

NOVUS Quartet to play ‘The Art of Fugue’

NOVUS Quartet, the first Koreans to receive an award at the Osaka International Chamber Competition, will perform Johann Sebastian Bach’s very last work, “The Art of Fugue,” on Thursday.Considered one of the most notable Korean chamber music ensembles, NOVUS Quartet is comprised of violinists Kim Jae-young and Kim Young-uk, violist Lee Seung-won and cellist Moon Woong-whee. The young musicians met each other while studying at the prestigious Korea National University of Arts.The upcoming perform

Aug. 5, 2013

Battle of the music festivals

Ever since the Jisan Valley Rock Festival started in 2009, the talk of every summer has been, “Which was better, Jisan or Pentaport?” This summer is no different. Even in the midst of an outpouring of music festivals this summer, Jisan ― now dubbed the Ansan Valley Rock Festival with its new location ― and Pentaport were still two of the biggest festivals to catch. And the debate continued as the two went back-to-back in the last weekend of July and the first weekend of August. There was plenty

Aug. 5, 2013

Royalty seduced by death

The first Korean run of German musical “Elisabeth” last year was enormously successful, sweeping many awards including the Best Musical, at last year’s Musical Awards. The show is back in Seoul in a bigger venue this year ― Seoul Arts Center’s Opera Theater ― starring some of last year’s cast and newly added actors and actresses. Musical actress Ok Ju-hyun, who won the Best Actress last year for her performance in the piece, once again played the beautiful yet unhappy Austrian empress ― “the 19t

Aug. 4, 2013

John Park to record ‘Sipping My Life Away’ in Korean

Korean-American singer John Park, who was a semi-finalist on season nine of “American Idol,” and the runner-up of the local singing audition program “Superstar K2,” has announced that he will record a Korean version of his recently released English single “Sipping My Life Away.”“I had been working on my first full album for the past year and a half, and it was my first attempt at writing and composing some of my own songs,” Park announced on his agency’s website. “As the popularity of ‘Sipping M

Aug. 4, 2013

YB Band announces 3-day garage gig

In honor of the band’s newest album release, “Reel Impulse,” the five rockers of YB Band will be putting on a special three-day garage concert performance from Aug. 30 to Sept. 1 at the Sungsoo-dong Daelim Garage. The “YB Garage Concert ‘Garage Chaos’” is a 19-and-older restricted performance intended to be an all-out loud, hard-core warehouse rock show in celebration of the band’s comeback album. YB Band, also known as the Yoon Do-hyun Band, released its ninth studio album, “Reel Impulse,” on J

Aug. 4, 2013

Eyelike: Brown Eyed Girls 5th album is solid

Brown Eyed Girls 5th album is solidBrown Eyed Girls“Black Box”(LOEN Entertainment)As veterans in the K-pop arena, Brown Eyed Girls has come back with a solid nine-track album.Unlike “Sixth Sense,” their last album from 2011, “Black Box” is a rather safe album with no standouts and sticks to a rather basic pop sound, making for a good summer listen. Although the music video is stunning in terms of style, inspired by the movie “Kill Bill,” the title track itself is your average, catchy pop tune wi

Aug. 2, 2013

Bringing reggae back

In the land of K-pop, one wouldn’t expect to find a strong following for reggae. However, reggae duo Skull and Haha, both 33, are striving to prove that perception wrong.The husky-voiced reggae artist Skull and funny “Running Man” co-host Haha released their new single “REGGAErilla” on June 27, their latest since the single “2013 First Melody” in January, and “Ya Man” EP in July 2012. They have built up a steady following, holding a guerilla concert in Hongdae, performing on music programs, appe

Aug. 1, 2013