The Korea Herald

Houston funeral to be broadcast live

NEW YORK (AFP) - The funeral on Saturday for pop superstar Whitney Houston will be broadcast live from the New Jersey Baptist church where she grew up singing in a gospel choir, the funeral home owner said Wednesday.“Her publicist has chosen one person who will be allowed into the sanctuary and who will be streaming (video) to you all,” Carolyn Whigham, whose Newark funeral home is handling preparations for Houston‘s service, told AFP.Whigham said that jumbo screens would be set up outside the N

Feb. 16, 2012

UBC’s ‘This is Modern 3’ brings modern ballet closer to audience

The Universal Ballet Company chose modern ballet, not classic, to open its 2012 season. Its show “This is Modern 3” on Feb. 18-19 at the Universal Arts Center in Neung-dong, eastern Seoul, offers four modern dances by established choreographers from around the world. It is the third installment of UBC’s “This is Modern” series. The company has been introducing a variety of noted contemporary ballets since 2001 through the series as well as the “An Evening of Contemporary Ballet” show. The upcom

Feb. 16, 2012

UBC’s ‘This is Modern 3’ brings modern ballet closer to audience

Sotheby’s finds hidden Basquiat signature

LONDON (AP) ― Thirty years ago, artist Jean-Michel Basquiat secretly signed one of his paintings in invisible ink, says Sotheby’s auction house, which discovered the hidden autograph as it was preparing the painting for sale.Sotheby’s experts uncovered the secret this month as they were examining “Orange Sports Figure,’’ which goes on sale Wednesday. The vibrant image of an abstract crowned figure is estimated to be worth between 3 million pounds and 4 million pounds ($4.7 million and $6.3 milli

Feb. 15, 2012

Arirang TV to hold Peace Concert

Arirang TV, the state-run English-language broadcaster, will hold “Peace Concert” featuring Korean traditional music, or “gugak,” on March 26-27 to commemorate the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit.The concerts will be held at the main theater of the National Gugak Center near the Seoul Arts Center in Yangjae-dong, southern Seoul. The concerts will offer interesting performances of various forms of gugak, ranging from traditional to fusion, featuring traditional musician Kim Yong-woo, pansori s

Feb. 15, 2012

Bacon masterpiece nets 21m pounds at London auction

LONDON (AFP) ― A provocative masterpiece by Irish painter Francis Bacon on Tuesday fetched 21.3 million pounds at a London auction while a Gerhard Richter abstract netted almost 10 million pounds.Bacon’s 1963 work “Portrait of Henrietta Moraes,” which features a naked model sprawled on a bed, was snapped up by an unnamed telephone bidder at Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art auction.The Bacon auction record is $86.3 million for his 1976 “Triptych” which was achieved at Sotheby’s New York i

Feb. 15, 2012

Realistic yet implausible

SNU Museum of Art exhibition showcases 80 years of Dutch ‘Magical Realism’Despite being named the nation’s favorite artist in recent surveys, few Koreans realize Vincent van Gogh was Dutch.“Not many know about Dutch artists after van Gogh, either. Koreans tend to be interested only in artists from the U.S. or a few European countries like France or England. It is an unbalanced diet,” said Oh Jinyee, senior curator at Seoul National Museum’s Museum of Art. To broaden the public’s perspective, MoA

Feb. 15, 2012

Beach Boys, Radiohead, Chili Peppers play Bonnaroo

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) ― The reunited Beach Boys will celebrate sunshine and summer at the 2012 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival with Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phish and Bon Iver.The always eclectic four-day festival also will include Skrillex, Foster the People, The Avett Brothers, The Shins, The Roots and Alice Cooper on the 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee. Bonnaroo will be held June 7-10.The lineup has something of a ripped-from-the-headlines feel. Several acts had notable n

Feb. 15, 2012

Ok Ju-hyun’s ‘Elisabeth’ captivates Seoul

Austrian musical brings touching portrayal of legendary empressThere was a standing ovation, cheers and prolonged applause. Austrian musical “Elisabeth,” which kicked off its first show on Feb. 9, managed to captivate the local audience during its first week, in spite of a number of flaws.The musical, which portrays the life and death of the real-life iconic Austrian empress Elisabeth von Wittelsbach (1837-1898), is being staged in Korea for the first time. Former girl group FIN.K.L member-turne

Feb. 15, 2012

Ok Ju-hyun’s ‘Elisabeth’ captivates Seoul

Ancient art expert to head Getty Museum

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― An expert in ancient art who has overseen museums in England, the U.S. and his native Australia was named Tuesday to head the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.Getty officials said Timothy Potts, director of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England, will take over Sept. 1. Potts takes over two huge, architecturally impressive museum campuses, one at The Getty Center in the hills overlooking Los Angeles and the other at the Getty Villa, in the hills above Malibu.The Getty

Feb. 15, 2012

Stolen Dutch artworks found in U.K.

LONDON (AFP) ― Hundreds of works by celebrated Dutch expressionist artist Karel Appel have been discovered in a British warehouse ten years after they went missing, the Guardian newspaper reported Tuesday.Appel never recovered from the loss of his lifetime’s work of drawings, sketches and notebooks, which disappeared in Amsterdam in 2002, and died aged 85 in 2006.The 400 pieces were found by a British storage company when it cleared out the contents of a warehouse that it had bought before Chris

Feb. 15, 2012

Speculation rages over cause of Houston’s death

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― As fans await autopsy results that may not come for weeks, speculation raged Monday that pop legend Whitney Houston may have died from a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs and alcohol.Houston, who possessed one of the greatest-ever singing voices and sold more than 170 million records, fought a long and public battle with substance abuse after her career and personal life went off the rails.She was found dead on Saturday afternoon, at the age of just 48, in her bathtub in

Feb. 14, 2012

Speculation rages over cause of Houston’s death

Singers to test ‘hallyu’ power beyond Asia

K-pop artists are looking for opportunities to enter markets outside Asia as competition in the market stiffens.Decreasing album sales due to the popularity of music download and video-sharing sites and the arrival of international pop stars to perform in Asia are leading K-pop stars to look further afield.“They are trying to make money to cover losses from their album sales,” an official at CJ E&M said.“K-pop artists are competing with world stars in the Asian market. So we need to target marke

Feb. 14, 2012

Singers to test ‘hallyu’ power beyond Asia

All that glitters: London metal thieves target works of art

LONDON (AFP) ― Gangs of metal thieves are targeting London’s sculptures, statues and even war memorials, stripping them from their plinths and melting them down for their scrap value as commodity prices soar.Thieves have been plundering pipes and cables for months, but police are increasingly concerned that they are turning their attention to valuable works of art.Renowned British artist Barbara Hepworth’s imposing bronze sculpture “Two Forms (Divided Circle)” once sat proudly in Dulwich Park in

Feb. 14, 2012

[Herald Interview] Performing arts congress to focus on ‘cultural shifts’

ISPA CEO David Baile says Korean arts scene ‘progressive’The month of June will be an exciting month for Korea’s performing arts scene as the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) Congress will held in Seoul for the first time. The six-day event will bring some of the most influential performing arts figures together here, including Sydney Opera House’s chief executive Richard Evans, New York Philharmonic Orchestra’s executive director Zarin Mehta and Singapore’s Esplanade CEO Be

Feb. 14, 2012

[Herald Interview] Performing arts congress to focus on ‘cultural shifts’

Madrid opens major Marc Chagall exhibition

MADRID (AFP) ― Spain on Tuesday opens one of the most extensive Marc Chagall exhibitions ever mounted, a feat that organizers say will not be repeated for many years.From canvasses peopled with peasants, musicians and circus characters to illustrations of books and fables, a broad sweep of the Russian master’s works is on show in Madrid.“It is extremely rare to have so many masterpieces together, to bring together so many paintings from all over the world is something that won’t happen again for

Feb. 14, 2012

Madrid opens major Marc Chagall exhibition

South Korea's top girl group T-ara said they could hardly believe their eyes when they were besieged by fans seeking their autographs during a performance tour in Paris early this month."It was such an amazing experience because all we wished in the past was to rise to the top of a local pop music c

Feb. 14, 2012

K-pop's popularity in Europe amazes girl group T-ara

Drug use might have killed Whitney Houston

As fans await autopsy results that may not come for weeks, speculation raged Monday that pop legend Whitney Houston may have died from a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs and alcohol. A T-shirt, flowers and notes are left at a makeshift memorial for Whitney Houston outside the Beverly Hills Hilt

Feb. 14, 2012

Drug use might have killed Whitney Houston

‘Barriers of artistic institutions coming down’

Director of audiences and media at London’s Tate galleries talks about communicating with public in digital eraThe audience is completely changing, said Marc Sands, director of Audiences and Media at Britain’s Tate, just as it was when Tate Modern opened in 2000. “That was the moment when the audience changed both in terms of numbers and the type of people that came. Tate Modern brought contemporary art from the fringes of culture to the mainstream,” said Sands at a press conference on Monday at

Feb. 13, 2012

‘Barriers of artistic institutions coming down’

Paik Hae-sun to return to Korea for recitals

Paik Hae-sun, one of Korea’s favorite pianists, is well-known for her powerful and large-scale performances that produce great enthusiasm among audience members. The 46-year-old artist, who left the country in a surprise move seven years ago to concentrate on her performances, says her new life in New York has changed her and her music.“I used to give dramatic comparison during the recitals, but now I want to play the music with my free spirit and my life full of experiences and feelings,” Paik

Feb. 13, 2012

Paik Hae-sun to return to Korea for recitals

Adele sweeps 6 Grammy Awards

Whitney Houston’s death casts shadow on awards show as performers pay tributeLOS ANGELES (AP) ― Adele, who captured the world’s heart with an album about a broken romance, emerged as the top winner at Sunday’s Grammy Awards, winning six trophies including the prestigious trifecta of record, song and album of the year.The singer, who also made a triumphant comeback from vocal cord surgery on the Grammy stage, sobbed as she won the night’s final award, album of the year, for “21.’’ It was last yea

Feb. 13, 2012