Iconic 1960s American rock band the Beach Boys will hold a concert at Conrad Seoul Grand Ballroom on March 21.　Titled “An intimate evening at Conrad Seoul; featuring America’s iconic band, The Beach Boys,” the band’s first ever performance in Korea will offer a special opportunity to experience the Beach Boys’ performance from right in front of the stage, Conrad Seoul said in a press release. American rock band “The Beach Boys” (Conrad Seoul)　A legendary rock band known for surf music, including

Doosan Group chairman Park Yong-maan has been appointed CEO of the Korea National Opera, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Friday. Doosan Group chairman Park Yong-maan (Yonhap)　Park, a long-time supporter of the arts, has served as a director of the Seoul Arts Center and as president of KNO supporters since 2013. He also led the Jeongdong Theater as CEO from 2012-2015. 　As head of one of Korea’s top conglomerates, Park has been actively supporting cultural activities at his busine

V.O.S has always been a group with a very clear musical style. Since its debut in 2004, the vocalist trio has built its reputation on the members’ perfect-pitch three-part harmonies and their soaring emotional choruses. On their reunion album, with member Park Ji-hun returning to the group after six years of performing as a soloist, the three singers clearly wanted to evoke a sense of familiarity by bringing back that style.  V.O.S “Re:union, The Real” (Universal Music)　Unfortunately, they stuck

On his new four-track EP “Underwater,” singer Jung Joon-il is a man on a mission: to create an album that is destined to be unpopular. It’s not for lack of quality. “Underwater” is one of the most interesting records to be released of late.  Jung Joon-il “Underwater” (Loen Entertainment)　On the lead track “Plastic” featuring rapper BewhY Jung’s pained, at times husky voice pairs excellently with BewhY’s staccato-style rap. Between Jung’s singing, BewhY’s unusual use of syncopation in his rap, an

Two days before his death, David Bowie released “Blackstar,” his 25th album, which serves as a fitting musical epitaph.　On “Blackstar,” he transforms himself once again, proving that at 69, he still had plenty of surprises up his musical sleeve. Recording primarily with an avant-garde jazz quartet and with a longtime collaborator, coproducer Tony Visconti, Bowie crafted a haunting, seven-song collection that deals thematically with death and despair -- and now will be endlessly parsed for clues

EXO, a boy band divided into two subgroups “EXO-K” and “EXO-M,” promoting the same music simultaneously in Korean and Mandarin, respectively, won the Grand Prize for the third consecutive year at the High 1 Seoul Music Awards on Thursday.　EXO’s three-year winning streak broke several past records: Seo Tai-ji and Boys won the Grand Prize in 1992 and 1993, H.O.T. in 1997 and 1998, Jo Sung-mo in 1999 and 2000, and Girls’ Generation in 2010 and 2011. EXO poses at the 25th High 1 Seoul Music Awards h

Dubbed the “man with the golden flute,” flutist Sir James Galway has made his way to Seoul to launch the inaugural “Galway Flute Festival in Korea,” slated to be the country’s largest ever flute festival from Jan. 18 to 24. 　A man from humble beginnings, the 76-year-old virtuoso from Belfast took his flute playing to unforeseen heights and is known as one of the world’s foremost flutists. In 1979 he was awarded with the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire honor, and subsequently a Knighth

“Welcome Back,” the first full-length album from one of the hottest rookie groups in the country, iKON, was released in Japan on Wednesday, topping the Oricon daily album chart and selling 53,000 copies on the same day, according to YG Entertainment, the group’s agency.　IKON, selected among Billboard’s Top 5 K-Pop acts, has shown great potential for growth since its debut in Korea in October last year. The latest Japanese record confirms the group’s global popularity, added YG Entertainment. iKO

Korean jazz singer Nah Youn-sun will be performing Jan. 15 at the Florence Gould Hall in New York, according to Korean Cultural Service New York. 　Nah will be performing with Ulf Karl Erik Wakenius, a Swedish jazz guitarist, at the hall run by New York-based French Institute Alliance Francaise. Nah Youn-sun (Korean Cultural Service New York)　Nah is one of the performers selected by the Korea Arts Management Service to attend the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Conference, which will be

Vocal group V.O.S has released its first EP as a trio in six years, bringing back member Park Ji-hun to join Choi Hyun-joon and Kim Kyung-rok for the first time since his departure from the group in 2010.　According to Park, they owed their reunion to Lee Joo-won, the CEO of their agency HappyFace Entertainment. 　“We had been apart for so long that it became uncomfortable to tell each other how we felt (about the reunion),” he told reporters at a media showcase at the Art Hall on Wednesday.　“He a