The Korea Furniture Museum, which hosted luncheon for spouses of G20 leaders during the G20 Seoul Summit in November, launched an academic program on Tuesday for spouses of foreign ambassadors to Korea and expat CEOs to help them discover traditional Korean heritage.While spouses of foreign ambassadors normally spend about three years in Korea, their exposure to Korean culture is relatively limite

Performance March 29, 2011

Late composer Yun I-sang’s birthplace holds concerts, master classes, lecturesTONGYEONG ― When the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra abruptly canceled its opening concert for the Tongyeong International Music Festival due to fear of radiation from Japan spreading to Korea, TIMF artistic director Alexander Liebreich said he was quite surprised and could not understand the decision.Despite the short noti

Performance March 27, 2011

W Seoul-WalkerhillThe hotel offers the “W Hot Spring” package until May 31. The package includes a one night stay in a Wonderful room, breakfast for two, and two tickets to either sauna facility, Hot Spring or Water Zone. The package is priced at 295,000 won, excluding service fees and VAT. Package users can use indoor swimming pool Wet and fitness club Sweat for free and get a 10 percent discount

Food March 25, 2011

Singer Kim Gun-mo said he has voluntarily decided to stay out of MBC’s survival program “I am a Singer,” apologizing for his earlier choice to remain in the program even after he received the lowest score from the audience in the competition against six other singers in the latest episode. In each episode, seven singers are given a mission to perform in front of a 500-member audience made up of or

Television March 24, 2011

MBC said Wednesday it will replace Kim Young-hee, the veteran producer of singer survival program “I Am a Singer,” admitting that the producer’s decision to keep Kim Gun-mo ― who should have been eliminated in the first round of the competition with six other singers ― was wrong.In each episode, seven singers are given a mission to perform in front of a 500-member audience made up of ordinary view

Television March 23, 2011

Maestro Chung Myung-whun, Seoul Philharmonic to perform in Verdi’s ‘Simon Boccanegra’Popular operas by Italy’s two most famous opera composers ― Puccini and Verdi ― will be staged in Seoul in April.The Seoul Metropolitan Opera Company will stage opera “Tosca,” one of the most frequently performed operas among Puccini’s works, from April 21 to April 24 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts’

Performance March 23, 2011

Mexican restaurant fires up casual lunch menuFrom outside, Mexican bar and restaurant Mamasita looks like a posh, high-end establishment, located near the wealthy Cheongdam-dong shopping district in southern Seoul.The two-story building, tucked behind Bennigans at the Hakdong Intersection, has a spacious outdoor garden and a parking lot.Breaking with the stereotype that bistros in Cheongdam-dong a

Food March 21, 2011

The Ritz-Carlton, SeoulThe hotel offers a special honeymoon package. The package includes a night stay at a Superior Deluxe room with a nice view, a bottle of sparkling wine, chocolates and complementary use of the fitness club and swimming pool the next day. The package, coming at the price of 250,000 won, is available until Dec. 30. For more information or reservations call (02) 3451-8114.JW Mar

Travel March 18, 2011

Grammy-winning American violinist Hilary Hahn and U.K.’s English Chamber Orchestra will meet their Korean fans on April 12 at the Seoul Arts Concert Hall. Hahn last visited Seoul three years ago.Hahn, 31, is one of the most sought after violinists in the world, along with Korean-American violinist Sarah Chang, 30. Hahn and Chang have been often compared with each other due to their different perfo

Performance March 17, 2011

Program encompasses wide repertoire from Haydn to ShostakovichWhen it comes to symphonies, the most frequently performed composers in Korea are those composed by Tchaikovsky, Dvorak and Beethoven.To encourage classical music lovers to enjoy a broad range of music and to allow extensive study of each composer’s symphonies in chronological order, the Goyang Aram Nuri Arts Center said it will kick of

Performance March 16, 2011

British actor Colin Firth and Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman will work on South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook’s new movie according to news reports. Firth, who recently won the Best Actor Academy Award for his role in the film “The King’s Speech,” will join Kidman in Park’s new movie “Stoker,” the U.K.’s Daily Mail and the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. Colin Firth (Xinhua-Yonhap News) Ni

Film March 16, 2011