K-Arts School of Korean Traditional Music Enchants Audiences with 'ROOT_ROUTE' Concert
The
School of Korean Traditional Arts held the 2023 K-Arts Department of Korean
Traditional Music's Subscription Concert: ROOT_ROUTE at the Yeak-Dang Theatre in
the National Gugak Center to celebrate the year's end. The event title, “ROOT_ROUTE”
refers to the deep-rooted endless path, implying the School of Korean
Traditional Arts’s establishment goal to preserve the traditional arts in the
meantime to transcend and develop it fit for the contemporary context.
In
part 1, the concert staged Jongmyojeryeak and Geomungo Sanjo Melody of the Shin
Qae Dong style, and Sinawi. Delivered by a choir of 38 students majoring in
voice, Jongmyojeryeak particularly created a solemn mood through its music. Kim
Minseo who played solo is a current 3rd year student majoring in
geomungo who won the Gold Prize at the nation's prestigious Dong-A Music Competition.
In part 2 of the wind and string performance, Won-il’s “Daechwita Inverse,” Thomas Osborne’s “Verses,” and Kim Seong-guk’s “The Eternal Kingdom” were presented led by Park Sanghu’s conducting. Lee Seon-min, who joined the performance is a sophomore who majors in haegeum. Now Lee is an active member of the Eh Hey Yo, a haegeum ensemble in the K-Arts.
About
the event's intention, Art Director and Department Head Geong Soo-neon stated the
subscription concert aimed to allow the audience to fully enjoy the representative
performances by the School of Korean Traditional Arts, which fostered many professional
artists since its establishment in 1998, through various ensemble music staged
by each major program.