Classical music, delivered to the home

Classical music has begun seeping into the household recently. New platforms are connecting classical performers and listeners directly, allowing consumers to customize the music they listen to. Mini-concerts are now being held inside homes, returning classical music to its salon origins. Last week, string trio Armonia Ensemble performed at a child’s birthday party at a kids’ bookstore in southwestern Seoul. Surrounded by toys and coloring books, the trio broke away from the conventional classic

Nov. 21, 2016

Seventeen to return next month　

Seventeen (Official Facebook)K-pop boy band Seventeen is gearing up for its return to the spotlight.　The group released a teaser image, featuring lead vocalist S.Coups holding a glass bottle containing a model ship at the beach, on its official social media channels on Monday morning.  　The 13-member act, which is divided into hip-hop, vocal and choreography units, is currently getting ready to unveil a new album next month, according to the boy band’s management agency Pledis Entertainment. 　Af

Nov. 21, 2016

Zico to release new single

Block B’s Zico (Seven Seasons)K-pop boy band Block B’s Zico revealed one of the two artists collaborating with him on his upcoming single which comes out next week. 　The singer, producer and rapper released an image, featuring his and hip-hop artist Crush’s names, via his official social media channels on Monday morning.　“Zico has prepared a special year-end gift for his fans,” said the rapper’s management agency Seven Seasons on Monday. The company also revealed that Zico would reveal another a

Nov. 21, 2016

Tintin drawing sells for record 1.55 mn euros in Paris

PARIS (AFP) - An original drawing from the popular Tintin adventure “Explorers on the Moon” sold for a record 1.55 million euros ($1.64 million) at a Paris auction on Saturday, auction house Artcurial announced.The 50-by-35-centimeter drawing in Chinese ink by the Belgian cartoonist known as Herge shows the boy reporter, his dog Snowy and crusty sailor Captain Haddock wearing spacesuits and walking on the Moon while looking at Earth.It had been expected to sell for between 700,000 and 900,000 eu

Nov. 21, 2016

Bruno Mars opens AMAs; Drake, Twenty One Pilots win awards

Bruno Mars kicked off the 2016 American Music Awards with some serious uptown funk: He sang his groovy hit, "24K Magic," backed by his band who matched his slick, upbeat dance moves.The song is Mars' latest smash single after the success of last year’s "Uptown Funk." He, like many of the artists on Sunday, was promoting a new album at the AMAs at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.Mars released his new project on Friday, while others are also promoting new albums, including Lady Gaga, the Weeknd,

Nov. 21, 2016

David LaChapelle on beauty and intuition

To pave a way for himself, US photographer David LaChapelle left his home in Connecticut at the age of 15 to pursue photography in New York, where he spent most of his youth in the darkroom.　“I just wanted to take pictures,” he said at a press conference at the Ara Modern Art Museum in Insa-dong, Seoul, last week. “I did anything related to photography to survive.”A couple of years later, he was discovered by the late pop artist Andy Warhol, who offered him a job at Interview Magazine. LaChapell

Nov. 20, 2016

2016 Melon Music Awards celebrates top K-pop artists

The annual Melon Music Awards on Sunday recognized some of the biggest Korean artists and groups for their contribution to K-pop this year. Among the top winners at the ceremony were the boy band EXO for the best artist of the year, Bangtan Boys, or BTS, for the best album of the year, and girl group Twice for the best song of the year with its single “Cheer Up.” Unsurprising to many fans and those in the industry, YG entertainment’s latest girl group Black Pink took home the Best New Artist Awa

Nov. 20, 2016

Sechs Kies to hold year-end concerts in Daegu and Busan

First-generation K-pop boy band Sechs Kies confirmed that its year-end concerts will take place in Daegu and Busan.After holding its first group concert in 16 years in September, the group will be extending its tour “2016 Sechs Kies Concert Yellow Note” next month, the members explained on Naver’s broadcasting app V Live on Saturday.“When the concert came to an end, we all felt that we truly wanted to do it again,” said member Jang Su-won. The five-member act recently unveiled its new hit single

Nov. 20, 2016

Hip-hop draws growing academic interest

BOSTON (AP) -- The forgotten music of Boston’s early hip-hop and rap scene is being revived by two unlikely heroes: a local college and the public library.Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Boston have been working with the Boston Public Library to compile an online archive of demo tapes by the city’s top hip-hop and rap artists of the 1980s. Opening to the public Saturday, the Massachusetts Hip-Hop Archive was created in part to reclaim the city’s role in the genres’ history.“It’s b

Nov. 20, 2016

[Arts calendar] Musicals, exhibitions, concerts and more

 Chung Kyung-wha (PRM)Classical music“Hyungi Kim Brahms Violin Sonata Recital”: Herald Philharmonic Orchestra violinist Hyungi Kim will tackle the works of Brahms in her upcoming solo recital. A graduate of Seoul National University’s College of Music and a member of the Korean Chamber Orchestra, Kim is slated to perform sonatas for violin and piano “No. 1 in G Major, “Regen”, Op. 78,” “Thun”, Op. 100” and “No. 3 in d minor, Op. 108.” The concert will be held at the Seoul Arts Center’s Recital H

Nov. 18, 2016

‘Brexit: The Musical’ gives Boris star billing

LONDON (AFP) -- Wearing a blonde wig and bicycle helmet, a disheveled Boris Johnson sings and raps at a demonic Vladimir Putin -- Brexit as tragicomedy has hit the London stage.Five months after Britain’s shock referendum to leave the EU, “Brexit: The Musical” opened this week with a star role for Johnson, the gaffe-prone Brexiteer turned foreign secretary.“The trick (to play Boris Johnson) is mainly to pretend to know what you are doing but really sound like you don’t have a clue of what’s goin

Nov. 18, 2016

Jane Siberry haunts, stirs on ‘Angels Bend Closer’

Jane Siberry“Angels Bend Closer” (Sheeba Music)Jane Siberry twists genres and conventions on “Angels Bend Closer,” a haunting, uplifting album befitting her eclectic style.On the Canadian’s first major release in five years, Siberry’s lyrics arrive like emotional gushes barely contained by their musical frames, mostly lavish ballads with a bounty of details.Nearly seven minutes long, “Morag” encapsulates several aspects of the album and Siberry’s intense diversity -- nearly stream-of-consciousne

Nov. 18, 2016

Sting rocks out again with a familiar sound

Sting“57th and 9th” (A&M/Interscope)Sting’s new album, his first in more than a decade, sounds a lot like the old stuff, but that’s not a bad thing.The first single “I Can’t Stop Thinking About You” sounds like the love child of Police classics “Every Breath You Take” and “Can’t Stand Losing You.”There are the achy lyrics of the former, which holds up well but has more of a stalker vibe than it seemed to the first time around. And there’s the driving bass line of the latter, the style of playing

Nov. 18, 2016

Pink Martini’s new album is entertaining global trip

Pink Martini“Je dis oui!”(Heinz Records)Pink Martini brings its progressive commitment to “Je dis oui! (I say yes),” an entertaining global jaunt in eight languages and a whirling variety of styles.With no airs and graces but plenty of splendor, Thomas Lauderdale’s big band/little orchestra explores songs from Armenia to Portugal, a few originals and American standards like “Love for Sale” on its ninth studio album.NPR’s Ari Shapiro helps out on “Ov Sirun Sirun,” said to be most famous folk song

Nov. 18, 2016

Singer Jung Joon-young may return to ‘Two Days, One Night’

After a two-month hiatus, singer Jung Joon-young may return to KBS2 hit variety program “Two Days, One Night” next month, according to industry insiders on Thursday.However, the artist’s management agency C9 Entertainment denied the claim, telling local media that Jung “and the ‘Two Days, One Night’ team have not yet discussed his return to the show.”The 27-year-old singer-songwriter was mired in an alleged sexual offense scandal in September, when his ex-girlfriend filed charges against him for

Nov. 17, 2016

Bob Dylan can't make Nobel ceremony: Swedish Academy

STOCKHOLM (AFP) -- Music icon Bob Dylan will not attend the Nobel ceremony in December to accept his literature prize because he has “other commitments,” the Swedish Academy said Wednesday. “The Swedish Academy received a personal letter from Bob Dylan yesterday where he explained that he could not make himself available in December,” it said in a statement. “He wishes that he could accept the award personally, but other commitments make it unfortunately impossible. He underlined that he feels i

Nov. 17, 2016