When Korea was under Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945, people here needed a way to relieve their grief, even in a sarcastic way. Although it is no longer widely performed, there was the genre of “manyo,” a popular form of folk music in the 1930s. Usually performed by musical troupes at the time, manyo songs generally had comic lyrics set to a melody that belied the sorrow and sarcasm underneath. Bujihwa Arts Company stages “Story Manyo,” a musical performance o

On Sunday, Lim Yun-chan, 18, received the Gold Medal at the 17th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The news arrived two weeks after cellist Choi Ha-young won the Queen Elisabeth competition and three weeks after violinist Yang In-mo became the first Korean winner of the Sibelius Violin Competition, making it an inspiring time for Koreans. But the phenomenon didn’t start in 2022. Last year, Korean pianists Park Jae-hong won first place at the Busoni International Piano Comp

  Leaving behind the glitz and the glamour of a contestant who finished in third place on JTBC’s audition program “Sing Again” in 2020, singer-songwriter Lee Mu-jin is back with his first EP, “Room Vol. 1,” which released Thursday evening. As the title suggests, the aptly named “Room Vol. 1” marks the start of his “Room” series, and it’s music that best shows the stories of “musician Lee Mu-jin” and who he was before

American pop star Billie Eilish will hold a one-day concert in Seoul in August, the concert's organizer said Thursday. The show will take place at 8 p.m. at Gocheok Sky Dome on Korean Liberation Day on Aug. 15, a holiday that commemorates the Korean liberation from Japanese colonial rule 77 years ago, Hyundai Card said. It will be her second concert in South Korea since the first one held on Aug. 15, 2018, at the 2,000-seat Yes24 Live Hall in eastern Seoul. She originally planned to hold a

Singer-turned-actor Ivy will hold a solo concert for the first time in 15 years in August, her management agency, Creative i, said on Thursday. The upcoming concert, titled “Next Page,” will take place at Nodeul Live House on Nodeul Island, central Seoul, on Aug. 13-14, the agency said in a statement. “Ivy will deliver a heartfelt performance on stage with her beloved fans for the first time in a long while,” the statement read. “She is preparing a variety of so

After working with stars from Seo Tai-ji to BTS, producer duo now looking beyond music videos

The latest album by South Korean soprano Im Sun-hae is unlike most of her previous releases. Betraying her love for musicals, “The Man I Love” is a pleasant picnic away from her career as a soprano, according to the performer. “I‘ve always loved all genres of musical performance. I will always be a classical singer at heart because once you fall in love with classical music, you never give it up completely. But I often felt a need to explore different genres and diver

Deoksugung’s Seokjojeon, the first European-style stone building built during King Gojong’s reign (1863-1907), will be filled with classical tunes on the evening of June 29, the Cultural Heritage Administration’s Deoksugung Palace Management Office said Monday. Since 2015, several concerts have been performed at the venue. Historical records show that Korean pianist Kim Yeong-hwan performed recitals for King Gojong at the Seokjojeon main hall in the early 1910s. Hosted and o

Lim Yun-chan, an 18-year-old South Korean pianist, became the winner of the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas, the organizer announced Saturday. Lim, the youngest to win the competition’s gold medal, also took home two additional awards: the audience award and the best performance of a new work. Lim also won a cash prize of $100,000 for the gold medal and $7,500 for the special awards. For the next three years, he will also get substantial man

Long-running K-pop group Super Junior will release the first volume of its 11th full-length album next month, the group's agency said Saturday. Label SJ said the five-track "The Road: Keep on Going" will be out July 12, and will be followed by the second volume and the complete combined version later in the year. "This is a comeback album where you can feel both of Super Junior's own mature feelings and absolute charisma," the agency said in a release. Super Junior plans t

Up-and-coming star Lee Mu-jin will put out his first EP since his debut four years ago, his agency said Friday. The album titled "Room Vol. 1" will hit music services next Thursday, Big Planet Made Entertainment said. The 21-year-old singer debuted in 2018 with "Sanchaek" but rose to fame only after appearing on the cable channel JTBC's music audition show "Sing Again" and finishing in third place in 2021. He later swept music charts around the country with &qu

Legendary punk rock band No Brain returned with its long-awaited first all-English EP “Big Mistake” on Wednesday. The album was made in 2014 in the US, but it took about eight years to finally hit online music streaming platforms due to copyright and contract issues in the US, according to the band’s agency Roxta Muzik & Live. The five-track album starts with lead track “Uh-huh,” with rhythmical drum beats that build into heavy guitar riffs blended with the

Up-and-coming cellist Choi Ha-young has won the Queen Elisabeth Competition for the cello, becoming the first South Korean cellist to receive the top honor at one of the most demanding contests in the world. The 24-year-old cellist was announced as the winner of the competition at the awards ceremony in Brussels, Belgium, on Saturday after the final round of 12 contestants including three other South Korean cellists -- Mun Tae-guk, Yoon Sul and Jeong Woo-chan. The first prize came with a

Iconic South Korean hard rock band Songgolmae is embarking on a nationwide tour this fall, Dream Maker Entertainment announced on Monday. Titled, “Yeolmang,” meaning “aspiration,” the tour will kick off in Seoul with two days of concerts, starting Sept. 11, at the Songpa Olympic Stadium in southern Seoul. The upcoming tour will be the long-awaited reunion of the band‘s two best-known members -- Bae Cheol-soo and Koo Chang-mo -- after some 38 years. The band, p

Violinist Yang In-mo became the first South Korean to win the top prize at the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition on Sunday, yet another crowning achievement for the Paganini competition winner. The top honor came with a cash prize of 30,000 euros ($32,000) and a loan of a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin made in 1772. In addition, the Sibelius family awarded Yang a prize of 2,000 euros for the best performance of Magnus Lindberg’s “Caprice.” “I’m