Korean pianist Sohn Jeung-beum last week won the second prize at the George Enescu International Competition in Bucharest, Romania, Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation announced Wednesday. Known as one of the biggest classical music international competitions in Eastern Europe, the event is being held every two years in honor of renowned Romanian composer George Enescu (1881-1955). Its competition ...

A renowned South Korean conductor attended orchestra performances and met artists on a visit to Pyongyang aimed at promoting cultural exchanges and ease tensions, state media said Wednesday. Chung Myung-whun, who leads the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and also serves as a UNICEF “goodwill ambassador,” arrived in Pyongyang on Monday with two senior Seoul orchestra officials. He watched and condu...

Exhibitions “Agony and Ecstasy”: 22 among business mogul and noted collector Franois Pinault’s impressive art collection is brought to Seoul. Exhibits include paintings, sculptures, installation works and photos by four renowned contemporary artists ― Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Cindy Sherman and Takashi Murakami. The show offers a rare chance to see Hirst’s formaldehyde solution installations and...

Campbell’s slow exit should be heard Glen Campbell “Ghost on the Canvas” (Surfdog) Given the circumstances of its release, it would be wonderful to say how Glen Campbell’s presumably final album is an unmitigated triumph. Not quite, though it came closer than anyone had a right to expect. An in-demand studio pro in the 1960s and country-rock superstar in the 1970s, Campbell’s career faded wi...

NEW YORK (AP) ― Whether it is being encased in an egg or wearing slabs of meat, there never is a question whether Lady Gaga will make a spectacle of herself at an awards show; the only question is just what kind. So when the MTV Video Music Awards came around this year, Gaga did not disappoint. Although she dressed somewhat conservatively in short black hair, a dingy white T-shirt, a black blaze...

Indie music helps Lee Ja-ram create new form of pansori Pansori prodigy and indie musician Lee Ja-ram is to hold a pansori gala show, staging highlights of Korea’s four representative traditional pansori and her own contemporary pansori creations in Seoul on Sept. 16. Pansori is a traditional form of narrative music, performed by a solo singer, who plays all the characters of a story, and a “go...

Maestro talks about the importance of on-going support after successful European tour Following a successful European tour, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra hopes for more fundraising programs and sponsorship, SPO music director Chung Myung-whun and its president Kim Joo-ho said Friday. “Orchestras in foreign countries have about 30 to 50 fundraising experts working for them,” said Kim. “We are...

Jessica Simpson is planning to take breast reduction surgery, a U.S. entertainment magazine reported. Jessica Simpson (Bloomberg) According to the magazine, the U.S. TV star and singer does not want her double D breasts, reportedly telling her friends that they make her look bigger than she really is. The 31-year-old celebrity reportedly wants to look slender again ahead of her wedding to Amer...

Sumi Jo “Libera” Universal Music Marking the 25th anniversary of her international debut, soprano Sumi Jo has released “Libera,” an album which encompasses musical genres from opera arias to musical numbers. In an interview, Jo said the title, meaning “free” in Italian, represents her 25 years of free spirit, expressing all kinds of music she wanted to express. Among the 13 tracks, Jo picked t...

Since coloratura soprano Sumi Jo made her international operatic debut as Gilda in Verdi’s “Rigoletto” in Italy in 1986, the 25 years of world tours and musical explorations have made her musical life “free.” Such a free-spirited and gypsy-like image is the core concept of Jo’s latest album “Libera,” or liberty in Italian, which marks the soprano’s 25th anniversary of her international debut, Jo...

K-pop groups will fly to New York to hold the SM Town Live World Tour at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 23, after holding a series of concerts in Seoul, Los Angeles, Paris and Tokyo. Joint concerts by K-pop groups affiliated with the entertainment agency have played a significant role in creating a new Korean Wave, prompting international fans to demand concerts through flash mob protests. Korea...

Singer-songwriter holds month-long concert to celebrate his third album While idol-centered K-pop has been heavily covered by the media, the Korean indie scene has received relatively little attention. This is the eighth installment of a series of interviews shedding light on the scene. ― Ed. Singer-songwriter and guitarist Yi Sung-yol, 41, has been far from clear about his direction in life, a...

The Korea Tourism Organization said it will hold a K-pop concert on Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Alpensia Sky Jumping Special Stage in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, to promote tourism there. Super Junior (SM Entertainment) The city has been attracting growing attention from international travelers after winning the bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. The KTO has collaborated with Gangwon Provinc...