A concert dedicated to the traditional Korean string instrument ajaeng will be held on Feb. 14, at the Seoul Donhwamun Traditional Theater, located in Jongno-gu. Titled “Choi Hye-rim’s Ajaeng with Yang Seung-hwan,” the 60-minute performance is part of the traditional music performance hall’s project for this year, the organizer announced in a press release last week. Ajaeng is a horizontal zith...

Korean classical pianist Lim Dong-hyek is bringing an all-Chopin program in February. This recital is to celebrate Lim’s first LP version released with Warner Music International and is also the first all-Chopin recital in seven years since 2016. Last year, marking the 20th anniversary of his debut, the pianist focused on Schubert for his recital. Under the title of “Regarding Chopin,” Lim wil...

The Bamberg Symphony, a prestigious German orchestra led by rising Czech conductor Jakub Hrusa, will return to South Korea for the first time since 2017. This time, the orchestra will join hands with South Korean pianist Kim Sun-wook. On March 29, the 77-year-old orchestra will perform Bruckner’s Symphonic Prelude, WAB 332 and Schumann's Piano Concerto, Op. 54 with Kim. After intermission, they ...

Dutch conductor to focus on introducing new music, Korean composers

“Kyungrockjeol” started out as Han’s birthday party in 2005. Held every year on Feb. 11, the gathering of fellow musicians has now become “one of the three biggest Hongdae holidays,” alongside Halloween and Christmas. Although the event moved online during the pandemic, the passion of musicians and fans was steadfast. In 2021, 83 musical acts performed for 18 hours, recording 70,000 simultaneou...

South Korea’s exports of cultural content hit an all-time high of $12.4 billion in 2021, boosted by the global boom of Korean pop culture, a government report showed. According to a 2021 research study on the cultural content industry released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the industry’s exports increased 4.4 percent to $12.45 billion in 2021 from $11.92 billion in 2020. The c...

Kim, a graduate of the Korea National Institute of the Gifted in Arts, affiliated with the Korea National University of Arts, has won many awards at home and abroad including first prize at the Strad Competition in 2019, first prize at the David Popper International Cello Competition for Young Cellists in 2021, and first prize at the Ehwa Kyunghyang Music Competition in 2022. Another Korean cell...

The legendary Woodstock festival is coming to Korea with the theme of "freedom, peace and love." The festival will be held from July 29 to 30, at the Hantangang River Geopark complex, in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province in memory of the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice agreement, SGC Entertainment announced Friday. The company said it has signed an official copyright agreement with the Woo...

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra's incoming music director Jaap van Zweden, will lead the opening concert of 2023 with his signature repertoire, Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68, at the Lotte Concert Hall, on Jan. 12 and 13. Van Zweden will lead the SPO six months earlier than originally scheduled. The Dutch conductor was scheduled to conduct regular SPO concerts in July, November and D...

The concert will open with the dance piece “Bacchanale” from Saint-Saens’ opera “Samson and Delilah.” Pianist Shin will join the KNSO in the performance of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43. Bass Park will join the orchestra in performing “Snow” by Kim Hyo-gun and the aria “Calumny is a Little Breeze” from Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville.” Hwang will perform “Song to the M...

Successfully wrapping up his first year, Pietari Inkinen unveils 2023 lineup

“Many people are not familiar with the pipe organ. They just see it as a huge and magnificent instrument, but there are tens of thousands of tones. I’m glad to be in a program to show people how beautiful they wound,” Cho told The Korea Herald, after a rehearsal on Friday. “In this program, you see the inside of the organ and how its sounds are structured.” The Brillante Children's Choir will a...

Pianist-conductor Kim and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra heralds triumphant return to normalcy with Beethoven's Ninth

Celebrated gugak musician Ahn Sook-sun is scheduled to perform pansori “Chunhyangga” at the National Theater of Korea, in Jung-gu, central Seoul, Dec. 31. The best-known pansori “Chunhyangga” tells a love tale between Chun-hyang, daughter of a courtesan, and Yi Mong-ryong, son of a magistrate. Ahn and four other pansori singers will perform the entire "Chunhyangga," which will take about 210 mi...

In 2015, Lim became the first Korean to win the prize in violin, performing Brahms’ Concerto in D, Op. 77. Since then she has performed with the Belgian National Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the NHK Symphony Orchestra. In June this year, Choi became the first Korean to receive the top honor in cello, performing Lutoslawski’s Cello Concerto with the Brussels Philharmonic in ...