Akdong Musician signs with YG entertainment

Winner of audition show “K Pop Star 2,” Akdong Musician, has signed with YG Entertainment, the agency said on Friday. The brother-and-sister duo said in an interview that “we thought that YG Entertainment could be the best place for us to develop our musical talent. We want to make much better songs here.” The agency said that it took a while to finalized the contract as the siblings are minors, meaning their parents in Mongolia had to sign on their behalf. The entertainment company has already

May 24, 2013

Norwegian jazz singer to perform with Korean guitarist in Seoul

Norwegian jazz artist Inger Marie Gundersen will hold a concert with Korean guitarist Park Youn-woo on Sunday in Seoul.Production agency Plus Hitch said on Friday that Gundersen is visiting Korea for the tenth time to meet Korean fans, but is not bringing her regular band members. Instead, Korean guitarist Park Youn-woo and his trio will accompany the vocalist. Park is one of the few guitarists in Korea to cover a wide range of genres ranging from jazz to classical. Park earned a graduate degree

May 24, 2013

Jazz dance musical to open Suwon Hwaseong Fortress Theatre Festival

Groups from seven foreign countries will join this year’s 17th Suwon Hwaseong Fortress Theatre Festival, which will be held from May 24-28. This year’s festival at the UNESCO World Heritage site is scheduled to feature performance art works from Spain, Australia, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Taiwan and Belgium. Since last year, the festival has invited local citizens to play various roles in different programs. And this year a group of amateur citizens will perform a dance musical featuring Edit

May 23, 2013

Bayreuth pays homage to Wagner on 200th birthday

BAYREUTH, Germany (AFP) ― Bayreuth paid tribute to composer Richard Wagner on what would have been his 200th birthday here Wednesday with a rare concert in the town’s legendary Festpielhaus theater.While a small crowd of onlookers braved blustery showers and chilly winds outside the theater that sits atop Bayreuth’s fabled Green Hill, Wagnerians from all over the world rubbed shoulders inside with Bavaria’s political and social elite for one of the main highlights in the Wagner bicentenary.“We a

May 23, 2013

MYK finds rebirth in rock as Saltnpaper

From hip-hop to alternative rock, rapper MYK is looking to find his place in today’s music scene. Best known as a hip-hop artist who performed alongside greats such as Epik High, MYK has taken a shift in his musical career with his newly released side project album in which he has reinvented himself under the name Saltnpaper. The new identity in Saltnpaper is meant to convey the message of encompassing the most stripped down and bare form of music. “It gives you a sense of rawness,” said MYK. “S

May 23, 2013

Chapman brothers show diabolical art in Hong Kong

HONG KONG (AFP) ― The Chapman brothers presented their latest epic installation featuring thousands of little figures in violent conflict Tuesday at the sidelines of Art Basel in Hong Kong, but dismissed the renowned fair as a “shop.”“The Sum of all Evil” by Jake and Dinos Chapman builds on previous works “Hell” (1999), and “Fucking Hell” (2008), which showcased innumerous miniature Nazis soldiers in various states of diabolical torment.Their ambitions to use themes of war, genocide, the apocaly

May 22, 2013

Lee Hyori’s ‘Monochrome’ sweeps charts

K-pop singer Lee Hyori’s much-awaited comeback album “Monochrome” has swept the local music charts, proving her to be a force to be reckoned with despite her three-year hiatus from the music scene. The lead track, “Bad Girls,” from Lee’s fifth studio album topped the charts on Melon, Naver, Olleh and Bugs immediately upon its release on Tuesday while eight of the album’s 16 tracks were ranked in the top 10 on Bugs and Olleh. Seven tracks listed in the top 10 chart on Naver Music. “Bad Girls” was

May 22, 2013

‘Voice of Korea’ judges share coaching techniques

Singers Baek Ji-young, Kangta, Gill and Shin Seung-hun have returned to the second round of “The Voice of Korea 2” live showcase showdowns. The coaches and their remaining trainees got together during a round interview held at the Goyang Sports Complex in Ilsan on Friday and shared their thoughts on coaching the young hopefuls. The nerves on the faces of all of the contestants were transparent, and the thought of elimination was daunting: Young Song Poo-reum couldn’t hold back her tears as she l

May 21, 2013

Rhapsody in blue

There are more than 100 shades of blue on a color chart. But the blues we see in real life are limited to a few seen in our random gazes at the sky in the middle of the day. At James Turrell’s “Skyspace,” which opened last week in Korea inside Hansol Museum, one can have uninterrupted hours of watching the sky and its changing colors that stretch the boundaries of the blue palette that we know. Hansol Museum built a separate building opened last week, dedicated to four works by the American arti

May 20, 2013

Uangel Voice recruits new members

Uangel Voice foundation, which has been discovering and supporting young talented classical musicians since 2007, is recruiting new members ahead of releasing a new album. The new members will have the opportunity to participate in the recording of the upcoming album.The foundation has two groups, a male quintet, Uangel Voice, and a musical team, Uvoice. Uangel Voice is made up of three tenors, a baritone and a bass. The quintet has released three albums since 2008. With powerful yet sweet voice

May 20, 2013

Energy of S. Africa explodes on stage

Six years after its 2007 Seoul run, South Africa’s iconic musical “Umoja: The Spirit of Togetherness” is back in Korea to show off the country’s colorful and explosive culture, deeply linked to its stormy history. The musical’s title, “Umoja,” is the Swahili word for “unity.” The show features some 30 young South African performers, many of whom come from impoverished and disadvantaged families. It had its premiere in South Africa in 2000 and had a popular run in the West End in 2001. It has had

May 19, 2013

Sarah Brightman to feature ‘space dream’ in Korea

“Queen of Popera” Sarah Brightman will be back in Korea to feature her latest songs at BEXCO in Busan on July 21 and Seoul’s Gymnastics Stadium of Olympic Park on July 26.The classical crossover soprano’s tour will cover the songs from her latest album, “Dream Chaser,” which was inspired by her dream of traveling to the International Space Station on board the Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft. Based on the plan that will make her the first musician to travel into space in 2015, the organizers will proje

May 19, 2013

Denmark’s de Forest wins Eurovision Song Contest

MALMO, Sweden (AP) ― Denmark’s Emmelie de Forest has won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with her ethno-inspired flute and drum tune “Only Teardrops,” despite tough competition from spectacular stage shows by performers from Azerbaijan and Ukraine.Juries and television viewers across Europe awarded the barefoot, hippie-chic de Forest for the catchy love song that is driven by her deep, Shakira-like voice. She received a total of 281 points in the glitzy music battle, which also featured a bi

May 19, 2013

Mraz and his band serenade 18,000 fans

American pop singer-songwriter Jason Mraz made his way back to his Korean fans on Friday night, and despite it being the musician’s sixth performance in the country, the geek in the pink still managed to attract around 18,000 fans to Jamsil Sports Complex. Opening acts for the show included Superstar K4 winner Roy Kim, who performed his new single “Spring, Spring, Spring,” as well as 25-year-old up-and-coming British singer Joe Brooks.  When Mraz finally took the stage, he opened with his 2011 p

May 19, 2013

Greenplugged heralds start of festival season

Music festival season officially kicked off in Korea on Friday with the two-day Greenplugged Festival at Nanji Hangang River Park.With some of the hottest Korean bands hitting the stage, the festival was packed with rock lovers of all ages.The sets started around noon each day with seven stages running on a staggered schedule throughout the weekend.Friday brought reggae group Windy City, hip-hop due Supreme Team and indie band Bye Bye Badman, as well as popular rock band Pia.Set next to the Hang

May 19, 2013

Eyelike: Eric Church is rocking on live album

Eric Church is rocking on live albumEric Church“Caught in the Act”(EMI Nashville)On the heels of Eric Church‘s first million-selling album, “Chief,” and after achieving his first pair of No. 1 hits in the last two years, the country music rebel takes the unusual step of releasing a 17-song concert album, “Caught in the Act.” The move points out that Church is selling out arenas not on the number of top hits he has, but on his reputation as a macho guy who likes to party -- and put on an exciting

May 16, 2013