Gurzenich Orchester Koln will be performing in South Korea for the first time in five years, this time with violinist Clara-Jumi Kang as the soloist, according to production company Vincero. Led by conductor Francois-Xavier Roth who has helmed the orchestra since 2015, the 195-year-old orchestra will perform at Seoul Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. on July 8. Outside of Seoul, the team will bring the same program to Andong Culture and Arts Center in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province on July 7. Th

Performance May 24, 2022

On Thursday and Friday, beloved violist Richard Yongjae O’Neill performed with his usual gusto for Korean audiences. Under the baton of music director and conductor Osmo Vanska, O’Neill and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra performed Sibelius’ Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63. What made these concerts particularly significant was his rendition of Paul Chihara’s “Concerto for Viola and Orchestra: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Hero.” The piece was uniq

Performance May 24, 2022

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea Arts & Culture Education Service announced that they will hold the 11th International Arts Education Week next week. Under the theme of “Culture and Arts Education in the Post-Coronavirus Era, Resilience to Transformation,” the one-week event will showcase various programs including a symposium and seminar on culture and arts education, a one-day class program, a UNESCO Expert Meeting on Culture and Arts Education and a pe

Culture May 19, 2022

  Dan Disney, a professor at Sogang University, has received the N.S.W. Premier’s Award for Poetry for his latest poem collection “accelerations & inertias.” Disney, who has lived in South Korea for 12 years, was given the Kenneth Slessor Award, which comes with a cash prize of 30,000 Australian dollars ($21,000). Published in 2021 by Vagabond Press, the collection “dissects the psychogeography of information, knowledge and lived experience of place and tim

Books May 19, 2022

Ever since “Death Note,” a Japanese manga series was first introduced to the world in 2003, it has been adapted for various mediums, including animation, film and TV drama. The story of a teenage genius, Light, with superpowers that allow him to kill with a notebook, was released as a musical in Japan in 2015 and soon thereafter a Korean version featuring K-pop superstar Kim Junsu, a former member of boy band TVXQ, became a huge hit in Korea. For the show’s third local re

Performance May 18, 2022

Bunhwangsa, a Korean Buddhist temple, will open in Bodh Gaya, India on Saturday with a delegation of 150 Korean Buddhists from the Jogye Order – South Korea’s largest Buddhist sect -- attending the opening ceremony. Bodh Gaya in northeastern India’s Bihar state is one of Buddhism’s four holiest sites. It is where Sakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment under a Bodhi tree according to Buddhist texts. The project to build a Korean-style temple in Bodh Gaya was launched

Culture May 18, 2022

The 19th edition of Music in PyeongChang is set to take place earlier and will be bigger than before, the festival’s artistic director Son Yeol-eum said Monday. The iconic music festival will be held for 22 days from July 2 to 23 at various places in Gangwon Province under the theme of “Mask.” “Because of the masks during the pandemic, we were able to stay connected during a time of disconnection,” Son said. In ancient Greece, masks were synonymous with perso

Performance May 17, 2022

The much-anticipated recitals in South Korea by Maurizio Pollini, considered one of the world’s leading pianists, have been canceled due to health reasons, the event organizer said on Thursday. Event organizer Mast Media cited chronic bronchitis as the reason for the 80-year-old musician’s abrupt cancellation of the recitals, titled “The Emperor of Piano: ‘Once in a Lifetime’” scheduled for May 19 and May 25 at the Seoul Arts Center. The company said that

Performance May 12, 2022

South Korean pianist Kim Sunwook is swapping out his usual repertoire of Beethoven and Brahms for the upcoming recitals to play pieces that were formative in his youth. “For this recital, I wanted to take a break from Beethoven and Brahms, which I played numerous time in the 14 years of my career,” the 34-year-old pianist said, adding that he is facing a turning point as a musician.  Kim's history with these pieces is highlighted by a performance of Brahms’

Culture May 12, 2022

Two Grammy-winning artists, violist Richard Yongjae O’Neill and violinist Hilary Hahn, are scheduled to perform in South Korea in the coming weeks. O’Neill will join the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra for two concerts on May 19 and 20 at the Lotte Concert Hall in Songpa-gu, Seoul, marking the first time in 15 years for the US-based violist to perform with the orchestra.  During the 90-minute concert, O’Neill will premiere Paul Chihara’s “Concerto for Viola an

Performance May 10, 2022

For the last four years, Park Hye-sang, an emerging South Korean soprano, has lived as a cultural nomad, bouncing between New York, Berlin and Seoul to further her career as an opera singer. The first four months of this year alone were a whirlwind of concerts and long-haul flights for Park. In January, she was in New York to perform Pamina in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” with the Metropolitan Opera and in Prague for an Opera Gala with Prague Philharmonia. From there, she hop

Performance May 9, 2022

A total of 12 Intangible Cultural Heritage Masters and dozens of educators gathered Wednesday in southeast Seoul to protest a newly proposed school curriculum, calling it a “massacre of gugak.” Gugak refers to Korean traditional music in Korean. Led by Lee Young-hee, 83, Intangible Cultural Heritage Master of Gayageum Sanjo and Byeongchang, the group condemned an ongoing research project led by the Ministry of Education to revamp school music curriculum. “We have devoted

Performance May 4, 2022

From introducing forgotten female composers to crossing over beyond classical music into K-culture, the Korean National Symphony Orchestra unveiled plans to impress its name on the minds of music lovers at home and abroad. The orchestra’s artistic director David Reiland introduced various artistic plans and initiatives to reporters during a press conference at Seoul Arts Center on Tuesday. Reiland plans to help discover forgotten female composers, a continuation of a project with Franc

Performance May 3, 2022

Since Min Byoung-chul first wrote “Ugly Koreans, Ugly Americans” in 1993 to highlight cultural and behavioral differences between Koreans and Americans, the book has been revised six times. In the latest revision, the well-known English educator said half of the content has changed.  “There appears to be increasing global interest about Korea due to Hallyu (Korean wave content) such as ‘Squid Game’ and BTS. Many Koreans are also going out to the world stage,

Books May 2, 2022

Spring offers the perfect weather for enjoying street performances. Taking advantage of the warm sunshine and to support street performers, the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture has organized a festival dedicated to various street arts ranging from puppet shows to a percussions concert. 　From April 23 to May 22, events take place every weekend from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at different places. For this weekend’s edition, Seoul Forest will be the center stage for nine performances. 　“

Culture April 28, 2022