A medley of VIP expatriates, members of the foreign diplomatic community and local music lovers came out to experience genre-bending Korean singer Jang Sa-ik’s year-end performance held to raise awareness for groups helping orphans at Seoul Namsan Traditional Theater on Wednesday.

“He is one of the best singers in Korea,” said Eugina Bellova, wife of Slovak Ambassador to Korea Dusan Bella.

“He has a very strong voice ― an exceptional voice. He’s very popular because of his unique way of combining modern and traditional Korean music. I am looking forward to this concert,” she said during a reception before the start of the performance.

Jang performed to a crowd of about 300 foreign envoys, expatriates and music enthusiasts in a concert dubbed “Voyage to the Beautiful World” at an intimate venue located inside Namsangol Hanok Village, nestled at the foot of Namsan. The event was to raise awareness for Happy Messenger Company and the United Nations Convention on Establishing a World Orphans Day.

Jang is called “Soriggun,” meaning maestro, by traditional music enthusiasts in Korea. Jang is well known for his powerful voice and his innovative musical arrangements that seamlessly blend modern jazz and pop with traditional Korean music, especially pansori and music utilizing the taepyeongso, an instrument similar to the oboe.

Jang is popular among the Korean-speaking expatriate community here.

“I know a little about traditional Korean music and I was interested in seeing this performance, although I am pretty busy with work,” Petro Malaniuk, first secretary at the Ukrainian Embassy, said in near-fluent Korean.

“Traditional Turkish Sufi music and Korean traditional music are similar. They are both spiritual music, calm and slow,” said Huseyin Yigit, managing director at Istanbul Cultural Center, and Kadir Ayahan, Rumi Forum Academic Coordinator at the Istanbul Cultural Center.

Both Yigit and Ayahan, who speak Korean fluently as well, have lived in Korea for the past eight and five years, respectively.

“I hope (Korean traditional music) becomes more popular, because hallyu is popular, modern K-pop, but traditional music is still quite unknown. In its own respect it is very nice and very valuable,” Ayahan said.

Jang is particularly appealing to foreign envoys here as a powerful representation of traditional music amid Korea’s fast-paced society.

“I attended last year and it was so wonderful,“ said Israeli Ambassador to Korea Tuvia Israeli. “I have his CDs, too. He has a unique voice. It is truly amazing, Korean culture.”

The event was sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and The Korea Herald and supported by Industrial Bank of Korea and SAE-A Trading.

By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)