Though state-run culture facilities reopened Monday, uncertainties regarding the COVID-19 pandemic remain. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Friday that 23 museums and libraries and 11 government-run performing arts venues would reopen Monday after a monthlong shutdown. Despite them reopening, however, the performing arts sector continues to struggle. The Art Council Korea,, also known as Arko, under the Culture Ministry, canceled its Arko Partner project Thursday, cancel

Music from the hit online video game League of Legends will be brought to life by an orchestra here. “League of Legends Live: The Orchestra” will be held at the Sejong Center of Performing Arts in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, Nov. 27-28. It will mark the first time that the Sejong Center is presenting a show with music from a video game. It will also be the first League of Legends concert hosted by Riot Games in Korea. League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena video ga

A spring music festival will be happening in the fall -- perhaps not so unusual in a year that has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 15th Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music will now take place in mid-October, after the original May schedule was put on hold following the nationwide spread of the novel coronavirus. Violinist Kang Dong-suk, the artistic director of the festival who has led the SSF since 2006 when the festival was founded, recently arrived from France and completed

Not much is known about North Korea, let alone its music scene. The few things known about North Korean music concern its propaganda, hailing the ruling Kim dynasty, and state-led acts such as the Moranbong Band and Samjiyeon Orchestra. According to pianist Kim Cheol-woong, 45, who defected from North Korea some two decades ago, such perceptions are partly true and partly wrong. “Western music before the 20th century can be played freely. However, those after that must be screened by

Adjusting to the turbulent times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, an online-only musical will be launched in November. In the past few months, it has become the norm for musical production companies to stream their shows online, as in-person performances have been barred with tight restrictions to restrain the spread of COVID-19. Though the musical industry has been trying to establish a for-pay model, it has not been easy to bring audiences online, tying them down at home to watch the two- to

The Korean National Ballet will perform “Le Corsaire,” also known as “The Pirate,” Nov. 4-8 at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul. The troupe was to perform “Romeo et Juliette,” choreographed by the iconic ballet dancer Jean-Christophe Maillot, in November, with the original production team visiting South Korea to direct the choreography. However, the ballet company canceled the show to avoid the risk of spreading COVID-19 through visiting foreign staf

The Tongyeong International Music Foundation appointed Chin Un-suk, Berlin-based composer of contemporary classical music, as the next artistic director of the Tongyeong International Music Festival. The contemporary music festival which honors the late-composer Yun I-sang is held annually in the coastal city of Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, every March. This year’s festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chin will lead the event from 2022 to 2026. “I am ho

Original Korean musical “Sonata of a Flame” has been viewed in 45 countries online, according to its production company Shins Wave on Tuesday. The musical, which kicked off its run on Sept. 11 in Daehangno, Seoul, livestreams 13 of 18 live in-person performances. The 13 performances are streamed globally, with the exception of China and Indonesia, via a local tech startup‘s online platform, Presented Live. According to a press release shared by Shins Wave on Tuesday, viewer

Though many musical events have been postponed or canceled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the southern city of Tongyeong is looking forward to Isang Yun Prize 2020, which celebrates the legacy of iconic composer Yun I-sang (1917-1995). Tongyeong, a port city in South Gyeongsang Province, is Yun’s birthplace. Based in Berlin in his later years, the composer became internationally recognized for his attempts to bridge the music of the East and the West. The Tongyeong Internatio

Entrepreneur Zena Chung, also known as Seon D. Chung, became the recipient of the 2020 Dr. Sarojini Naidu International Award presented by the Asian Academy of Arts. The award honors Indian writer and political activist Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949), the first Indian woman to preside over the Indian National Congress and India’s first female state governor. Called the Nightingale of India for her poetry, Naidu is recognized as an important force in India’s independence movement aga

A circus to be held in Seoul in the era of COVID-19 will involve cars instead of circus tents. The Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture will host the Seoul Circus Festival from Friday to Oct. 11 at Oil Tank Culture Park in Mapo, western Seoul. The event, normally held in May every year, was postponed twice due to the nationwide spread of the new coronavirus. To guard against the further spread of the virus, it will be a drive-in event. The festival will consist of two parts. The Circus C

The Korea Foundation, the public diplomacy arm of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Asia Society Switzerland will co-host an online conference on K-pop on Wednesday. The event, titled “KF-Asia Society Switzerland Virtual Dialogue on K-Culture” will look into how K-pop is changing the entertainment industry in the post-coronavirus era. Kim Young-min, group CEO of S.M. Entertainment Group, will give the presentation “Online Business Strategy of S.M. Entertainment After th

Taiwanese travelers are to board a flight that will take off to Jeju Island -- before landing right where it started. The Korea Tourism Organization‘s Taipei office, Taiwanese travel agency Ezfly and airline Tiger Air introduced a flight deal from Taipei to Jeju Island on Friday, selling out in just four minutes. The flight will not land on Jeju Island, however, it will circle above the island before returning to Taipei. To offer an experience of Korean travel, passengers will have a c

Ahn Joo-won became the first Korean male principal dancer of American Ballet Theater. ABT recently announced promotions for six soloists, elevating them to the role of principal dancer. Ahn was promoted to principal dancer a year after being promoted as a soloist in September 2019. Ahn was a student at the Korea National University of Arts in Seoul when he was invited to join the company in 2013 after winning the Gold Medal at Youth America Grand Prix in New York. He joined the ABT as an a

While the second wave of COVID-19 that hit the country in mid-August has canceled virtually all performances, the local performing arts scene is getting ready to take the leap into the world of for-pay virtual shows. In recent years, global performing arts establishments have been sharing their shows online, including the Royal National Theatre in London and Berlin Philharmonic. However, the practice had been limited to internationally renowned establishments with ample budgets and large fan ba

The international tour production of “Cats” kicked off its Seoul run on Wednesday, trying to adapt to the turbulent times of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the iconic musical’s Seoul schedule was decided in July, the COVID-19 situation in South Korea was on a steady path to recovery with the number of coronavirus cases dropping sharply. Except for the two-week self-quarantine requirement for the 40 foreign nationals on the “Cats” team, it seemed as if the disease wou

  Pianist Lang Lang, known for his power-charged, knuckle-busting performances, is to share another side of his music with the world through Bach’s Goldberg Variations. The celebrated Chinese pianist has released a recording of the monumental 1741 keyboard work from earlier this month under the Deutsche Grammophon label. The album features two performances -- one recorded in a studio and the other recorded live at the St Thomas’s Church in Leipzig, Germany, where Bach resided

Photos of a 50-day-old giant panda cub at Everland, a theme park in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, released Thursday show a cub who now weighs 10 times as much as she did at birth. The female cub now weighs 2 kilograms, almost 10 times her birth weight of 197 grams recorded in July. Yet to be named, she is the first panda to be born in South Korea. According to Everland, the cub is in good health. She recently opened her eyes for the first time and can turn over by herself. The theme park has

Having already had performances postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, pianist Kim Sun-wook seems headed for a busy year-end, making his official debut as a conductor along with plans for solo and duo recitals. Kim, 32, who became the first Asian and youngest winner of the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2006, will mark his formal debut as a conductor by leading the KBS Symphony Orchestra on Dec. 14 at the Lotte Concert Hall in Jamsil, eastern Seoul. Kim received a master of arts de

London-based contemporary dance company Rambert and celebrated Belgian choreographer-filmmaker Wim Vandekeybus have joined hands to present a socially distanced dance performance fit for the COVID-19 pandemic era. Their new dance production “Draw From Within” will be livestreamed for audiences around the world, from London to Seoul. In the show, around 20 Rambert dancers will dance against the backdrop of Rambert’s London South Bank studios. The concept behind the produc