Season tickets for the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts went on sale Wednesday, marking the first time the center is adopting the season system, titled “Sejong Season 2016.“　 A season system involves scheduling the whole year‘s program in advance.　For the 2016 season, from March this year to February next year, the Sejong Center is presenting a wide range of performances and exhibitions, including performances by the nine performance organizations affiliated with the Seoul Metropolitan Gove

Big Bang and Psy both broke 100 million views on their latest YouTube music videos on Tuesday, according to their agency YG Entertainment.　Psy’s music video for “Daddy” was first to hit the mark, breaking 100 million at approximately 10:50 a.m. The video is energetic and outrageous, as per Psy’s trademark style, showing Psy appearing as three generations of a family. Still from Psy’s music video for “Daddy” (YouTube)　“Daddy” makes Psy the first Korean artist to have four consecutive music videos

This is the first article in a series that explores the powers leading hallyu and the powers behind the global rise of Korean pop culture. -- Ed.The global success of Psy‘s “Gangnam Style” music video was both boon and bane to the 42-year-old singer, born Park Jae-sang. With the strong support of K-pop stronghold YG Entertainment, Psy was able to reach an unprecedented audience for Korean music. The video rapidly went viral, going on to reach over 2.5 billion views on YouTube. With an additional

The nation’s first concert hall in nearly three decades to be built exclusively for classical music performances is scheduled to open in August.　The two-tier Lotte Concert Hall, seating 2,036, is housed in the eighth to 10th floors of the Lotte World Mall in Jamsil, southeastern Seoul. Designed by Yasuhisa Toyota of Nagata Acoustics, responsible for the acoustic design at the Suntory Hall in Japan, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in the U.S. and the Philharmonie de Paris in France, Lotte Concert Ha

BOSTON (AP) -- A night at the symphony usually means silencing cellphones and mobile devices before the music starts.　But as part of an effort to draw in a younger audience, the Boston Symphony Orchestra is loaning select patrons iPads loaded with content specific to each performance.　 　They‘ll be able to view sheet music for the pieces being played, video interviews with musicians, podcasts about the composers and analysis on the works themselves. They’ll also get a close-up view of the conduct

Zico, the leader of hip-hop idol group Block B, released a teaser music video for his new song “It was Love” on YouTube at midnight, Monday.　“It was love,” the second track on Zico’s new special single to be released Jan. 25, is a ballad with a sensitive melody, which will display the new possibility of Zico as a true musician, according to Seven Seasons, the group’s agency.  Stills from a teaser for Block B member Zico‘s new song “It Was Love,” released Tuesday (Seven Seasons)　The music video s

JYP Entertainment, the smallest of Korea’s three main entertainment agencies, is under fire for its handling of the controversy surrounding Taiwanese K-pop star Tzuyu, in which the company made a politically charged statement.The agency’s official homepage was down yesterday and its shares fell nearly to 4,000 won ($3.30) when the stock market opened Monday, down from a 52-week high of over 6,300 won. It closed at 4,300 won. Tzuyu is part of JYP’s multinational nine-member girl group Twice, whic

Sextet boy group Teen Top’s latest EP “Red Point” is packed with music and lyrics from the members themselves, showing that they are slowly making the evolution from an idol group to a crew of self-producing musicians.　“The members all began writing music and lyrics last year,” leader C.A.P told reporters at a media showcase at Ilchi Art Hall in Seoul on Monday. “The whole team is moving in that direction.”　“I think we all began writing so that we could perform the music that each of us wanted,”

The French musical “Mozart, L’Opera Rock (Mozart, The Rock Opera)” will make its way to Korea, bringing its original cast for the first time in March. 　The show with the original cast will also be making its Asian premiere at Daegu Keimyung Art Center in Daegu from March 3-6 and at Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul from March 12-April 24. Its Korean-language production was previously staged in both cities in 2012.  A scene from “Mozart, L’Opera Rock” (Mast Entertainment)　The origina