Pop star Rain adjusting well to military life

Fans wept as he was drafted into the army last month but South Korean pop sensation Rain is apparently adjusting well to military life.Rain, whose real name is Jung Ji-Hoon, will become an assistant instructor next month at the boot camp which he entered in October, the defence ministry said Wednesday.“Assistant instructors are chosen based on outstanding training results and their willingness, and Jung has shown that,” a ministry spokesman told AFP.Rain was recently also named top marksman at t

Nov. 10, 2011

Book prize for ‘distinguished’ Keith Richards

NEW YORK (AP) ― On a night he was honored for his way with words, Keith Richards was clearly winging it.“This is one for the books, if you get my drift ― you hacks,” the 67-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist joked Tuesday as he accepted the Mailer Prize for Distinguished Biography, a prize earned by his million-selling memoir “Life.”Wearing tinted glasses, a long scarf around his neck and a wide red band around his sprawl of salt and pepper hair, Richards stood before hundreds dressed in suits an

Nov. 10, 2011

Roy Lichtenstein canvas pops $43 million auction record

NEW YORK (AFP) ― A Pop Art canvas by Roy Lichtenstein, “I Can See the Whole Room! ... and There’s Nobody in It!,” popped previous world records for the landmark contemporary artist when it sold for $43.2 million in New York on Tuesday.The sale at Christie’s beat the artist’s previous auction record of $42.6 million and led a strong performance for contemporary works.“I Can See the Whole Room! ...” was executed in 1961 with oil and graphite in Lichtenstein’s familiar cartoon style, depicting a st

Nov. 9, 2011

String of intimate chamber music at Seoul venues

The merit of going to a chamber music concert is being able to enjoy individual artists’ different performing styles along with the harmony of the instruments.The intimate nature of chamber music will be displayed at the Kumho Art Hall and Seoul Arts Center’s IBK Chamber Hall through to the end of the year.At the Kumho Art Hall, a series of three chamber music concerts will be held on Thursday, Dec. 8 and Dec. 29.The first performance is by Curtis and Friends, consisting of pianist and Yonsei Un

Nov. 9, 2011

Rap legend Heavy D dies after collapsing

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Heavy D, the self-proclaimed “overweight lover” of hip-hop who became one of rap’s top hit-makers with wit, humor and a positive vibe, has died. He was 44.Lt. Mark Rosen of the Beverly Hills police said Heavy D died in a Los Angeles hospital Tuesday after collapsing at his condominium building.Rosen said Beverly Hills police officers were dispatched to Heavy D’s condominium building Tuesday morning after receiving a report of an unconscious person laying on the walkway of a bu

Nov. 9, 2011

Landmark Da Vinci exhibition in London

LONDON (AFP) ― A landmark exhibition of paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci goes on show at London’s National Gallery on Wednesday, the first time so many of his masterpieces have been displayed together.Among the nine paintings are his two versions of the “Virgin of the Rocks,” which will hang face to face for the first time.Da Vinci is thought to have produced about 20 paintings during his lifetime, but just 15 have survived. Art fans will also be able to see “Salvator Mundi”, which was only recent

Nov. 8, 2011

Taiwanese violinist tops Isang Yun Competition

Taiwanese violinist Yu Chien Tseng has topped the 2011 Isang Yun Competition, the Tongyeong International Music Festival Foundation said on Monday. In the final competition in the violin category this year held on Saturday, Tseng performed Brahms Violin Concerto with the TIMF Ensemble, led by Adriel Kim. Despite her young age, the 17-year-old’s academic but seasoned performance not only put him at the top of the competition, but won him the Isang Yun Special Prize, which is given to a musician w

Nov. 7, 2011

Big Bang wins Best Worldwide Act

Big Bang won Best Worldwide Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Sunday evening.It was the first time a Korean act has won at the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA), Big Bang’s agency YG Entertainment said.The Best Worldwide Act, a new award this year, is chosen through online fan voting on the MTV EMA’s official Website, with voters given the option of five acts representing five regions of the world.The five candidates were Restart from Latin America, Big Bang from As

Nov. 7, 2011

Bieber, Gaga dominate MTV awards

LONDON (AP) ― The MTV Europe Music Awards turned into a celebration of Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga Sunday night as the two picked up a number of top prizes, including best male and best female act.Gaga, striking in several outfits throughout the evening, also won for best song and best video for “Born This Way.” Bieber picked up best pop act as well.Their live performances captured the differences between the two ascendant mega-stars: the teenage Bieber, wholesome and almost impossibly cute; Gag

Nov. 7, 2011

SFAA to introduce up-and-coming designers

  Seoul Fashion Artist Association kicks off the three-day 2012 S/S Seoul Collection on Tuesday at Fluxus Building in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul. Three up-and-coming designers ― Lee Jung-eun, Heo Hwan, Son Sung-keun ― will be presenting their collections along with eight established labels by SFAA designers ― Shin Jang-kyoung, Pak Dong-jun, BAKANGCHI, Rubina, Kim Dong-soon, P+ by Park Youn-soo, Sul Yun-hyoung and KUMANN OH Eun Hwan Designed by Yoo Hye-jin. “SFAA which has been spearheading Korea’s fa

Nov. 7, 2011

Spain’s Prado museum hosts large Hermitage exhibit

MADRID (AP) ― Spain’s Prado museum is hosting a large exhibition of European art lent by Russia’s Hermitage, a rare opportunity to see such work outside the vast St. Petersburg museum.Two large paintings by Rembrandt, an imposing Caravaggio and a historic segment of early 20th-century art, an area in which the Hermitage’s collection excels, are among the close to 180 items. Works by Spanish artists Diego Velazquez, Pablo Picasso and Diego de Rivera temporarily return home, flanked by famous piec

Nov. 7, 2011

K-pop group Big Bang wins Best Worldwide Act

 Big Bang won Best Worldwide Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Sunday evening.It was the first time a Korean act has won at the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA), Big Bang’s agency YG Entertainment said.South Korean Pop group Big Bang arrive at the MTV European Mus

Nov. 7, 2011

British arts fest to run alongside Olympics

LONDON (AP) ― Cultural events will take over Scottish castles, ancient English monuments and every corner of London as part of a giant arts festival running in conjunction with the 2012 Olympics.The lineup for the 12-week London 2012 Festival, announced by organizers Friday, ranges from pop-up William Shakespeare to vintage Alfred Hitchcock, and includes artists, musicians, writers and performers from Britain and around the world.The festival opens June 21, 2012 ― Midsummer’s Day ― with a series

Nov. 6, 2011

Conductor finds hope in young Korean musicians

When she was a teenager, Sung Shi-yeon used to listen to Metallica over and over again. The strong beat and symphonic development of heavy metal music may find a similarity in the deep and powerful orchestral sounds of Mahler’s symphonies, one of which Sung is to conduct soon.The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s associate conductor will showcase Mahler Symphony No. 7 at Seoul Arts Center’s Concert Hall on Nov. 11, as part of the SPO’s Mahler Series. After Sung’s No. 7, SPO music director Chung Myu

Nov. 6, 2011