The debut solo release “Lalisa” from K-pop girl group Blackpink member Lisa was ranked No. 1 on global YouTube music charts in its first week, the singer‘s agency YG Entertainment said Sunday. “Lalisa” was the highest-ranked song on YouTube‘s music chart for the week starting Sept. 10 -- its release date -- with 216 million views, pushing out “Raattan Lambiyan” by Tankshik Bagchi, Jubin Nautiyal...

Orchestra to wrap up 2021 with Beethoven’s ‘Choral’

Global music platform Spotify’s K-pop playlist “K-pop Daebak” recorded approximately 1.7 billion streams in the last seven years, the company said in a press release Monday. Celebrating the 7th anniversary of its launch, the company released a host of data on K-pop Daebak. The playlist has reached more than 3.1 million followers, introducing fans and new listeners across the globe to the latest...

Legendary rock star Shin Hae-chul is making a comeback on the radio waves, thanks to AI technology that was able to re-create the voice of the late singer-songwriter. An artificial-intelligence based technology called “Personalized Text to Speech” took data from episodes of “Shin Hae-chul’s Ghost Station,” a radio program starring Shin from 2001 to 2012 in order to bring his voice back to life, ...

Legendary heavy metal band Metallica released a new album on music streaming platforms Friday, featuring a cover song by South Korean rock band YB. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the band’s 1991 megahit “The Black Album,” 53 acts from around the world covered their favorite songs from the album for a new one titled “The Metallica Blacklist.” YB, led by singer Yoon Do-hyun, covered Metallic...

Influential Beethoven expert Rudolf Buchbinder will share his take on Beethoven with the Korean audience, holding recitals in Korea for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out early last year. The upcoming recital marks the concert pianist’s first visit to Korea since 2019. He was to come to Korea with his Beethoven Sonata program last year but the engagement was canceled due to the...

The 13th Seoul International Music Festival, one of the major annual classical music festivals held every autumn in Korea, will take place in October under the title “Amusement Park.” The festival will take place across Seoul, including the Seoul Arts Center and the Lotte Concert Hall, Oct. 23-30, hoping to offer joy and comfort to classical music audiences hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Though ...

Outdoor music festivals signal return amid pandemic

Korean pianists Park Jae-hong and Kim Do-hyun won prizes at the 63rd Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition, taking first and second places, respectively. The biennial Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition, organized by the Ferruccio Busoni -- Gustav Mahler Foundation, wrapped up Friday, announcing the three winners among 33 semifinalists. For this year’s hybrid competition...

Pianist Sunwoo Yekwon and K-pop singer-songwriter Kwon Jin-ah will go onstage at the Lotte Concert Hall on Sept. 11 through a recital titled “Curtain Call,” produced by local entertainment mogul CJ ENM. The program will feature Sunwoo performing classical music piano works such as Mozart’s Rondo in A Minor and Chopin’s Ballade No. 1 in G minor and more. After an intermission, the two will perfor...

Though Flasic has been holding concerts at the Sejong Center, one of the biggest art centers in Korea, prejudice against computer games still remain a challenge. “Prejudices are still a barrier. I had difficulty persuading some arrangers. Some asked me ‘What if this would not be good enough for others?’ I am aware there are still people who talk behind my back,” she said. Chin says she will con...

The two pianists will also hold solo recitals at the Kumho Art Hall Yonsei in western Seoul. Mukawa will perform Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14 “Moonlight” and Ravel’s “Gaspard de la Nuit” on Sept. 8 and Fournel will perform Chopin’s Nocturnes and Brahms’ Piano Sonata No. 3 on Sept. 16. On Sept. 15, the two pianists will take part in a concert in Nowon, northern Seoul, performing Mozart’s works...

For more information, check the festival’s official website at pentaport.co.kr.

Berlin-based pianist Sunwoo Yekwon talks about life, music in pandemic times, appreciation for live concerts

Concert pianist Cho Seong-jin, the first Korean to win the International Chopin Piano Competition, released his second Frederic Chopin album Friday. The new album, released under the Deutsche Grammophon label, features Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21. On the album, Cho is accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra led by the Italian maestro Gianandrea Noseda. Though Cho has p...