The Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul will present two shows this month for 1,000 won, in an effort to promote the arts and lower the barriers for the public. Since the center’s “A Whole Rest” program began in 2007, it has offered diverse shows, crisscrossing genres from classical music and musical theater to dance and gugak, traditional Korean music, for 1,000 won (83 cents) per ticket. The musical “Spring Dream” will be staged at the cente

The associate conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra Wilson Ng has won the third place at the 2020 Mahler Competition. The Mahler Competition is a triennial competition for conductors under 35 organized by the Bamberg Symphony. This year’s competition was held from June 29 to July 5 in Bamberg, Germany. It was the first in-person international music competition to be held amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was live streamed via Facebook and YouTube. A total of 334 contenders

The National Gugak Center has released a second series of virtual reality performances, following the previous release in March. In March, the state-funded music institution released a series of videos made with virtual reality technology, introducing various gugak instruments.  It released 20 more VR videos Wednesday, recorded at venues that show the beauty of traditional Korean architecture. A total of eight court music and court dance videos were filmed in Changdeokgung, a Joseon-era

Celebrity Jang Sung-kyu released his latest song “Workman” featuring Jay Park and Sik-K on Wednesday. The making of the song was shown through a video that was uploaded on his popular YouTube channel Workman on June 24. In his channel that has over 3 million subscribers, Jang introduces and shares his experience with different jobs, ranging from working in an aquarium to a construction site. “All the proceeds will be donated to financially support industrial accident workers

The 2020 Yeowoorak Festival, a gugak-themed festival organized by the National Theater of Korea, will kick off online a day later than its original schedule. As the government suspended operation of state-run museums and theaters in the Seoul metropolitan area on June 12 until further notice, the National Theater of Korea must remain closed. Although it is shut down, the theater will continue with its annual festival, streaming two of the shows online via its channels on Naver TV and YouTub

Pianist Kim Kwang-min is to hold a solo recital for the first time in three years. According to production agency Credia’s announcement Thursday, Kim will perform Aug. 15 at the Lotte Concert Hall in Jamsil, eastern Seoul.  Kim, whose repertoire encompasses jazz, new age and classical music and whose work is often featured in films and dramas, graduated from the Berklee College of Music and has worked with numerous K-pop musicians such as Yoon Jong-shin and IU. The upcoming show

K-pop girl group Blackpink's latest song ranked No. 1 on iTunes charts in 60 nations, its management agency said Saturday, a day after the release of "How You Like That." The number of countries where the song topped the charts represents an all-time high for a South Korean girl group. The song also dominated two major Asian music streaming services -- Line Music of Japan and QQ Music of China -- according to YG Entertainment. Blackpink's fresh music video has also drawn explosive

Singer Yi Sung-yol takes listeners to exotic, unfamiliar lands with music from around the world

  K-pop group BTS' "Stay Gold," the lead track on the upcoming Japanese album, has topped global iTunes charts in more than 80 countries, the band's management agency Big Hit Entertainment said Saturday.  The song, sung in Japanese, ranked No. 1 on the Top Songs chart in 82 countries, including the United States, Britain, Brazil and India, the company said in a release. The agency released the song prior to the official release of the full-length album.  It is yet

Leading female voices in K-pop today are gearing up for comebacks later this month, closing off the first half of the K-pop industry's 2020 release calendar largely shaken up by the new coronavirus pandemic.   Solo artist Sunmi plans to make a comeback with her new single, "Pporappippam," on June 29. The song marks Sunmi's first new material in 10 months since her hit single "Lalalay" from last year. For her new song, the ex-Wonder Girls member partnered with DJ and pro

Returning to the stage after a four month virus-mandated absence, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s reunion with its audience was full of emotion for both sides. The SPO performed “Related Giants – Mahler & Sibelius” at the Lotte Concert Hall in eastern Seoul on Thursday. It was the first time the SPO had performed in front of a live audience since February. Though the concert had been much anticipated, the concert hall was relatively empty, as the SPO limited the nu

Violinist Clara Jumi Kang and pianist Son Yeol-eum are to embark on a tour of South Korea in September. The seven-city tour will run Sept. 2-10 and take them to Jeju, Suwon, Goyang, Daegu and more. It will mark the two virtuosos’ first performances together in four years. Having attended the Korea National University of Arts together, the two debuted as a duo at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2012. They held a national tour in 2013, followed by another in 2016 celebrating the release

A violinist will perform the solo repertoires of Bach and Ysaye, to take the audience on a “music trip” to Europe in July. Violinist Lim Ji-young, 25, will present the unaccompanied violin sonatas by Bach and Ysaye at central Seoul’s Seoul Anglican Cathedral on July 1 and the Seosomun Shrine History Museum on July 11. Lim rose to stardom in the classical music scene as the first Korean violinist to win the 2015 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, Belgium. Since then,

Collaboration is in the works between K-pop and K-classic. The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and S.M. Entertainment signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday to spread K-pop and K-classic worldwide by creating content that is not defined by a single genre. Lee Sung-soo, co-CEO of S.M. Entertainment, and Kang Eun-kyung, CEO of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, signed the memorandum, marking the first time a leading orchestra has joined hands with an entertainment company. This is also the

Music concert hall operator Stradeum announced Thursday that it will hold the “Stage 30” concert series from June 16 to July 10 jointly with performance-planning company United Producers. The Stradeum, a 100-seat venue, will only seat 30 concertgoers to comply with social distancing guidelines. Stradeum added that everyone in the audience must go through temperature checks and wear masks. “This concert is part of the musician’s process to find ways to meet with audienc