2 October – 20 November 2018
Tickets on sale from Friday 6 July – www.serious.org.uk/k-music
Find out more at www.k-music.co.uk
The K-Music Festival returns this autumn to celebrate its 5th year with some exciting events from all across Korea’s musical spectrum.
Each performer explores new boundaries within their particular genre, and although the artists share a common culture and identity, they certainly aren’t bound by this. Their sound and approach is global and therefore it is fitting that the festival supports them as they cement their place on the world stage.
From the legendary singer of Pansori, Korea’s traditional solo opera, Ahn Sook-Sun to Heemoon Lee with the band Ssing Ssing who received rave reviews from New York critics and audiences last year, the K-Music Festival 2018 boasts an extraordinary line-up this year!
Heemoon Lee returns with the band Ssing Ssing, they received rave reviews from New York critics and audiences last year.
Ssing Ssing
Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, SE1 8XX
Tuesday 2nd October
They have successfully combined traditional Korean folk songs with contemporary music and performance. The Near East Quartet will have a UK debut with their new album on ECM records with the special guest, Kyungso Park, who performed with Andy Shepperd two years ago at K-Music.
Ensemble E-Do
Rich Mix, Shoreditch E1 6LA
Tuesday 9th October
E-Do will also have their debut in London with us. Kyung-Hwa Yu, the leader of E-Do will play Janggu, a Korean traditional percussion instrument as well as Cheolhyungeum, a Korean metal-stringed instrument that sounds like an electric guitar.
Urban Sound
Kings Place Hall 2, Kings Cross N1 9AG
Friday 19th October
Urban Sound will join the festival with their unique combination of Asian percussion and piano, their band features three female musicians from China, Japan and Korea.
Ahn Sook-Sun
Purcell Room, Southbank Centre SE1 8XX
Saturday 3rd November
A rare opportunity to see Korea’s traditional opera sung by the country’s most legendary pansori singer. Ahn Sook-Sun will perform Heungbuga, one of the most humorous songs, accompanied by male pansori singer by Kim Jun-Soo. Pansori is a way of sharing myths, folklore and drama through limitless and passionate vocal-led music. Ahn Sook-Sun has been performing and winning awards internationally for decades and is a “living cultural asset” in Korea – part of an elite group of performers considered to be the best at what they do in traditional art forms.
Near East Quartet + Kyungso Park
Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, SE1 8XX
Monday 19th November
Near East Quartet have been a force in Korean music since 2010, juxtaposing elements of contemporary jazz and traditional Korean music with pure sound exploration to create new forms. Saxophonist/ clarinettist Sungjae Son and guitarist Suwuk Chung have been members from the outset and the group has recently added a pansori singer and highly creative drummer Soojin Suh. They release their eponymously titled album on ECM this summer.
Kyungso Park is a composer, player and improviser of the gayageum, a traditional Korean stringed instrument that sounds like a cross between a harp, an oud and a theremin. She freely breaks down the borders between traditional and contemporary music and at K-Music 2016 she premiered an exquisite collaboration with British saxophonist, Andy Sheppard – “an engrossing improvisational encounter.” (The Guardian)
Youn Sun Nah + Hyelim Kim & Alice Zawadzki
Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre SE1 8XX
Tuesday 20th November
Youn Sun Nah will return to London once more to let us hear her magical voice again. One of Korea’s great voices, Youn Sun Nah first made her name in France, where Le Monde enthused about her “magnificent voice and passionate originality”. There’s a clear influence of chanson in her performance – whether she’s singing Johnny Cash, Nine Inch Nails, a jazz standard or one of her own terrific songs, she’s always telling a story.
