Pianist Paik Kun-woo will hold a recital Oct. 9 at the Lotte Concert Hall in eastern Seoul, following the release of a new album under the Deutsche Grammophon label this month. Paik, a celebrated pianist based in Paris, will look into the life of German Romantic composer Robert Schumann (1810-1856) in a recital that begins with Schumann’s first work and ends with his last. The program will include Schumann’s Abegg Variations, Op. 1; Drei Fantasiestu (Three Fantasy Pieces), O

The Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum Secretariat under the Korea Foundation will host Central Asian Cinema Week 2020 for 10 days, starting Thursday. Five films -- one each from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -- will be available for viewing via Naver TV. The films to be shown are “The Road to Mother” (Kazakhstan, 2016), “The Song of the Tree” (Kyrgyzstan, 2018), “Mirror without Reflection” (Tajikistan, 2013), “At

A much-awaited recital from pianist Son Yeol-eum and violinist Clara-Jumi Kang will be held online Friday without a live audience. Credia, organizer of the duo recital, announced Wednesday that Friday’s recital will be held without an audience for safety reasons. The recital was to be held at the Lotte Concert Hall, with audience members sitting in every other seat. The venue had been moved from the Seoul Arts Center as state-run cultural facilities were shut down under social distanci

Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas are deemed to provide a profound insight into the music and life of the iconic German composer. Pianist Sohn Min-soo thinks he came to understand the great mind more than ever before by recording the complete cycle of 32 sonatas. The album will be released Sept. 11 under the Sony Classical label. “Though the recording took 2 1/2 years, Beethoven is a lifelong journey for me. This album does not mean the end of my exploration of Beethoven. I am waitin

Online festival K-Musical on Air, organized by the Korea Tourism Organization, kicked off its four-day run Monday. On Monday, the musical “Fan Letter” was streamed via Naver TV and V Live. Musicals “The Goddess is Watching,” “Red Cliff” and “The Fiction” will follow. The four musicals come with English subtitles. Since 2017, the KTO has supported 14 musicals in offering foreign-language subtitles with the goal of expanding the global audience b

Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra is seeking the flexibility to overcome the obstacles and adapt to the changing times. In mid-February, when the orchestra’s new Music Director Osmo Vanska led two concerts in Seoul, not many could have known that that would be the orchestra’s last live performance for many months. As the COVID-19 outbreak swept the nation, many live music performances were canceled or postponed. When the SPO returned to the stage

Without a doubt, 2020 has not been a great year to hold events. Some events, however, cannot easily be canceled or postponed. Like most other countries, weddings are big business in Korea, and celebrations are typically planned out at least a year in advance. People often travel across the country to attend, and guests are tightly packed in during a ceremony, which is followed by a reception that often involves buffet stations. With the government imposing stringent health measures to cur

Though Classic Revolution 2020 Seoul Beethoven began with high hopes, the summer music festival was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing rules in Seoul tightened on Aug. 16, a day before the festival opened. Six orchestras, under regional governments, had to cancel performances, including the opening concert. A total of 10 performances, mainly chamber music, stayed on the festival schedule. The cancellations were devastating for many who had been awaiting the festival, includ

A member of an art troupe under the National Gugak Center will be questioned for conducting a private lesson, after having contact with a high school student who was tested positive for COVID-19. On Aug. 19, the member gave a private lesson to a Gugak National High School student at a private studio in southern Seoul. Few hours later, the student’s mother was confirmed positive of the virus. The student was tested positive of the virus on Aug. 19. The troupe member was tested negative

Sancheong Medicinal Herb Festival The 20th Sancheong Medicinal Herb Festival will be held Sept. 25-Oct. 4 in Sancheong, South Gyeongsang Province. The festival, which began in 2001, includes exhibitions and events to learn about and directly experience Korea‘s medicinal herbs, for which the county of Sancheong is well-reputed. Visitors can also purchase medicinal herbs at relatively low prices at the festival. For more information in Korean, English, Japanese or Chinese, visit scher

Property prices in and around Seoul have been hitting record-high levels for the past few months, even as the government has declared war on the region’s housing bubble. That housing bubble first began to form about 50 years ago. In the 1970s and ’80s the Gangnam area, an affluent neighborhood in southern Seoul, started to fill up with massive apartment blocks. “Red Pants,” a new Korean-language opera that will be presented by the Korea National Opera on Friday and S

Jazz vocalist Park Sung-yeon died Sunday at the age of 77. Park, who had kidney failure for more than two decades, had been in a nursing home in western Seoul for the past few years. The singer is often called the “godmother of jazz music” in South Korea. She opened Janus, the country’s first jazz-only club, in the college district of Sinchon, western Seoul, in 1978. “Korea, which had been a dead land of jazz music, has now become a thick forest, being home to numer

Like most fests this year, the 11th ACC World Music Festival has not been able to escape the crippling impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The annual music festival kicked off Friday, despite the fast-spreading virus crisis. However, as the government decided to expand strict social distancing guidelines nationwide Saturday, the rest of the festival schedule had to be canceled. “It was like ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’” string instrument geomungo virtuoso Heo Yoon-

Ludwig van Beethoven is an important figure for every musician, but for pianist Kim Sun-wook -- a promising South Korean composer -- it is more than that, he’s a role model given his life’s work. Kim, the winner of the 2006 Leeds International Piano Competition, will hold a recital Sept. 13 at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul. The recital, initially scheduled to take place in March, was postponed due to the spread of COVID-19. Celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birt

Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival The Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival will be held Oct. 16-17 at Songdo Moonlight Festival Park, an hour’s drive from Seoul. The annual rock festival, ardently supported by local rock fans and music fans worldwide, usually takes place in early August. However, this year the event was postponed to October due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic. Program details for the festival have yet to be announced. For more information in Korean, visit www.ppen

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra canceled its concerts slated for this week, after one of its members tested positive for COVID-19. The member contracted the virus after giving private lessons to a Seoul Arts High School student related to the Sarang Jeil Church virus outbreak. According to the SPO, the orchestra member was tested for the virus on Saturday, after being informed of having come in close contact with a person who had contracted the virus. The following day, the member was confir

With the government having imposed stringent health measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 on Saturday, the culture sector is scrambling to adjust. As transmission of the virus in the Seoul metropolitan area continues at a fast rate, the social distancing plan for the capital area was raised a notch to Level 2 on Saturday. All private and public indoor gatherings are restricted to 50 people and outdoor gatherings to 100. Musicals are offering ticket refunds without charging a commission.

The show must go on, and so must travel. While the COVID-19 pandemic has changed everyone’s life one way or another, one of the sectors that has been hit the hardest is the tourism industry. The tourism industry around the world has been crippled by the virus. According to the UN World Tourism Organization, 96 percent of the planet’s destinations have imposed travel restrictions, either completely or partially closing their borders. Though international travel is off the table f

The Korean National Ballet will perform “Heo Nan Seol Heon - Su Wol Kyung Hwa,” Aug. 21-23 at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul, presenting the life of the legendary poet Heo Nanseolheon. Heo Nanseolheon (1563–1589), whose real name is Heo Cho-hui, was a prominent Korean poet from the mid-Joseon era. Having left behind more than 200 poems in her name, her works are appreciated to this day. The ballet “Heo Nan Seol Heon - Su Wol Kyung Hwa,” brings her two

Ludwig van Beethoven was more than just the theme of this year’s festival for pianist Son Yeol-eum. He was the hero. Though hindered by the coronavirus and the heavy downpour, the 17th Music in PyeongChang (MPyC) successfully wrapped up its three-week run of concerts on Saturday, recording a 100 percent sold-out rate for its nine main concerts. “I could have given up if it had not been the year commemorating Beethoven,” Son, the artistic director of the festival, told The K