The Korea Herald

Maestro Chung to be grilled over defamation charge this week

Jul 11, 2016

Maestro Chung Myung-whun will be questioned later this week on defamation accusations by the former head of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office in charge of the case said Monday.“Maestro Chung will be summoned for questioning as the accused at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday,” a prosecutor said. The accusations against Chung and his wife, surnamed Koo, were made in March by former SPO CEO Park Hyun-jung, who quit as SPO chief over alleged sexual and verbal harassment o
F.T. Island releases teaser poster

Jul 11, 2016

Gearing up for its return to the spotlight, five-member Korean rock band F.T. Island unveiled a teaser poster for the lead track “Take Me Now” from its sixth full studio album “Where is the Truth?” on Monday. Composed by the band’s member Lee Hong-gi, “Take Me Now” is a hard rock tune that embodies the band’s explosive energy, said the group’s management agency FNC Entertainment in a press release. Since the group’s official debut in 2007, F.T. Island has been gaining global acclaim with hit tr
I.O.I’s Yu Yeon-jung to join Cosmic Girls

Jul 11, 2016

K-pop group I.O.I’s Yu Yeon-jung will be joining another girl group Cosmic Girls as its 13th member, announced the singer’s management agency Starship Entertainment on Monday.“We came to this decision after evaluating the synergy created between Cosmic Girls and Yu Yeon-jung, and ask fans for their support for the new 13-member Cosmic Girls,” said Starship Entertainment in a press release. I.O.I, which debuted in May, was created through Mnet’s reality K-pop group survival show “Produce 101.” Fo
Creator of Broadway hit ‘Hamilton’ says goodbye, quietly

Jul 11, 2016

NEW YORK (AP) -- Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator and star of the Broadway smash hit “Hamilton,” made a subdued final bow Saturday alongside two other departing stars in the show that has become a cultural phenomenon.The performance Saturday at the Richard Rodgers Theatre was also the last for Leslie Odom Jr., who won a Tony Award as Aaron Burr, and Phillipa Soo, a Tony nominee who portrayed Eliza Schuyler. The three -- plus an ensemble member -- took their bows together but none said anything.Mi
[Herald Interview] Korean indie's awkward couple

Jul 10, 2016

The initial awkward tension between them has evolved into a unique musical partnership for award-winning indie duo Kim Sawol X Kim Haewon
Big Bang makes Forbes’ 2016 Celebrity 100 list

Jul 10, 2016

The five-member K-pop band Big Bang will be included in Forbes’ 2016 Celebrity 100 issue, which analyzes and ranks the world’s top 100 highest-earning entertainers and celebrities. This will be the first time a K-pop group is featured on the annual list and Big Bang’s ranking position will be revealed when the list is announced on Tuesday.The band made $44 million in pretax earnings from June 2015 to June 2016, according to a recent Forbes article. This is over $10 million more than the annual i
Eyelike: Maxwell, Sara Watkins, Tribute to Dennis Brown

Jul 8, 2016

Another slice of timeless neo-soul　Maxwell“blackSUMMERS’night”　(Columbia)　Maxwell isn’t all that concerned with timeliness.　When the neo-soul pioneer launched his “BLACKsummers’night” trilogy in 2009, no one really expected him to take seven years to release the next installment. But the second part, “blackSUMMERS’night” (Columbia), is so sleek and well-crafted that it’s hard to complain.　The first single, “Lake by the Ocean,” is really the only track that seems touched by current sounds and sad
Prince backup band The Revolution to reunite for 2 shows

Jul 7, 2016

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The band that helped catapult Prince to international superstardom is reuniting in his memory.The Revolution, which backed up Prince in the 1980s, will play two shows from Sept. 2-3 at First Avenue, the downtown Minneapolis nightclub where Prince and the Revolution filmed “Purple Rain.” The Revolution said Wednesday that they and the world mourned Prince “with profound loss and apocalyptic grief” after learning of his death in April.The shows will feature Wendy Melvoin, Lisa
Replacement conductor found for legendary Wagner festival

Jul 7, 2016

FRANKFURT (AFP) - The Bayreuth Festival, the legendary summer music festival dedicated exclusively to the works of Richard Wagner, said it had found a replacement conductor for a new production of “Parsifal” just three weeks before it is scheduled to open.Festival organizers said in a statement late Tuesday that east German-born conductor Hartmut Haenchen would take over from Latvian shooting star Andris Nelsons, who withdrew unexpectedly a week ago due to unspecified “differences.”“We are very
Adventurous Aussie wins over new audiences at Berlin opera

Jul 7, 2016

BERLIN (AFP) -- The edgiest of Berlin’s three opera houses has been pulling in the crowds since Australian Barrie Kosky began unearthing a little-known repertoire from the turbulent 1920s and 1930s.The openly gay Melbourne native with a Jewish background has turned the opera scene in the German capital -- not to mention traditional business acumen -- on its head since he took over the Komische Oper four years ago.His signature contribution has been programming previously obscure operettas, a lot
[Herald Interview] Park Yoo-jin blazes trail for violins in jazz

Jul 6, 2016

While the thought of jazz may conjure up images and sounds of Miles Davis on the trumpet and John Coltrane on the saxophone, it’s a safe bet to say few would ever consider, or know of, a jazz violinist. The jazz scene is dominated by the uniquely free-styled sounds of brass, woodwinds and percussion. Up-and-coming Korean jazz violinist Park Yoo-jin is looking to slowly tear away at this genre stereotype. “It is true that the world does not have that many well-known jazz violinists, I mean you ca
Smokey Robinson honored with national pop music prize

Jul 6, 2016

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Whether he was singing his own compositions or writing for other artists, Smokey Robinson was instrumental in shaping the Motown sound that changed American popular music in the 1960s. Now, his accomplishments have won him the pop music prize from the national library.The Library of Congress announced Tuesday that Robinson, 76, is this year's recipient of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The lifetime achievement award is named for the duo of George and Ira Gershwin and was
Seventeen returns to spotlight with repackaged album

Jul 6, 2016

Two days after releasing the repackaged version of the group’s first album “Love & Letter,” 13-member K-pop boy band Seventeen is returning to the stage.Starting with a performance on MBC’s weekly music program “Show Champion” on Wednesday, the group is scheduled for more broadcast appearances, including Mnet’s “M Countdown,” KBS2’s “Music Bank,” MBC’s “Show! Music Core” and SBS’ “Inkigayo” in the coming weeks. The repackaged album includes five additional tracks: “Very Nice,” “No F.U.N,” “Heal
Snoop Dogg to play at Clinton convention party

Jul 6, 2016

NEW YORK (AFP) - Snoop Dogg, the rap superstar and outspoken marijuana aficionado, will perform in support of Hillary Clinton on the sidelines of the Democratic Party convention later this month.Snoop Dogg will headline a “convention unity party” in Philadelphia on July 28, a day after Clinton is expected to accept the presidential nomination.Three so-called political action committees that spend on behalf of Democratic candidates -- Priorities USA Action, Senate Majority PAC and House Majority
New era of multinational K-pop groups dawns

Jul 5, 2016

NCT 127, Cosmic Girls and VAV herald a new generation of borderless K-pop projects