JYP Entertainment's new girl group NiziU has topped Japan's Oricon weekly music chart with its debut single album, the company said Tuesday. The nine-member group's album, "Step and a Step," ranked No. 1 on Japan's Oricon weekly singles chart for the first week of this month, just five days after it topped the daily CD singles chart of the Japanese music publisher, according to the agency. NiziU is only the second girl group to reach the top of the weekly Oricon chart with its debut

Random cluster infections are breaking out across the country and the South Korean music industry is no exception from the new coronavirus. In most cases, infections have escalated into bigger cases involving consecutive screening tests, as music programs and events often feature multiple artists and a big production staff. Earlier this month, Kogyeol and Bit-to of boy group UP10TION tested positive for the infectious virus after Bit-to came into contact with a COVID-19 patient. While no addi

With the development of artificial intelligence and deep learning, things that were once impossible are now becoming possible, including re-creating the voices of deceased musical artists to sing contemporary songs. Music channel Mnet will show AI music project “Once More Time” on Wednesday and Dec. 16, “resurrecting” deceased artists through holograms and AI voice covers. The first episode will feature Turtleman, leader of trio Turtles, who died of a heart attack in 2

Kim Sun-wook’s piano recital scheduled for Monday at the Lotte Concert Hall in Jamsil, eastern Seoul, has been canceled. Classical music concert organizer Vincero said the decision to indefinitely postpone Kim’s recital was made soon after the Seoul city government announced Friday afternoon that stricter social distancing rules would be in effect from Saturday to Dec. 18. This is not the first time that a performance of Kim’s has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The National Assembly on Wednesday passed a budget of 400 million won ($365,000) for the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism’s project to support Asian artists’ K-pop training. The amount is far less than the 1.5 billion won the Culture Ministry initially hoped for to conduct the project with six groups from three other Asian countries. “Since the budget has been slashed to 400 million won. we will have to adjust our initial plan and conduct a program with less than six g

Pianist Sunwoo Yekwon is planning to show the public around the Lotte Concert Hall in virtual reality. The Lotte Foundation for Arts and LG Uplus, a major local telecom operator, joined hands to present a VR tour of the Lotte Concert Hall in Jamsil, eastern Seoul, featuring celebrated pianist Sunwoo Yekwon as the docent. In the first video, Sunwoo appears in the audience and looks around the venue, joined by a house manager. They walk around the vineyard-style classical music concert hall, bui

Third wave of COVID-19 puts performing art scene at unease

Concert pianist Cho Seung-jin’s encore recital in Seoul slated for Saturday has been canceled, due to a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. Cho, the winner of the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition, was to hold an in-person recital on Saturday at the Seoul Arts Center, following his monthlong 11-city tour across Korea. The recital, which was announced after the completion of the scheduled tour, was to have been streamed live online through Naver TV for pay, too. However, as the num

WASHINGTON/SEOUL -- South Korea's K-pop megastar BTS was nominated for the Grammy Award in best pop duo/group performance, becoming the first South Korean pop artist to be nominated for the US music award. The South Korean boy group was nominated for its latest hit single "Dynamite" in a virtual ceremony streamed live on Tuesday morning (US time). BTS was one of five nominated in the category, which included "Intentions" by Justin Bieber, featuring Quavo, "Rain On Me&q

Though more often associated with the names of Romantic composers -- Chopin, Schumann and Schubert, for example -- pianist Sunwoo Yekwon hopes to share the Mozart side of himself through a new album. Concert pianist Sunwoo Yekwon, 31, who rose to global stardom three years ago winning the gold medal at the 15th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, has released his first studio album under the Decca label. The 19-track album was recorded this summer in Neumarkt, Germany. Simply titl

One concertgoer tests positive, 10 people in close proximity test negative

Lotte Concert Hall names Korean Chamber Orchestra, Esme Quartet inaugural in-house artists

Concert pianist Cho Seung-jin’s recital in Seoul on Saturday will be streamed live to audiences at home for 10,000 won ($8.95). According to Credia, the organizers of the Cho’s month-long nationwide tour across Korea, Saturday’s recital at the Seoul Arts Center will be streamed live via its Naver TV channel. For the access to the streaming, users can donate 10,000 won through the “sponsorship feature” on Naver TV, a streaming platform operated by the local port

K-pop sensation BTS has topped 90 regional iTunes charts with its latest album titled "Be," the band's agency said Saturday. Released the previous day, the band's fifth Korean-language studio album debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes Top Albums charts in 90 countries, including the United States and Britain, according to Bit Hit Entertainment. At the same time, the title track, "Life Goes On," ranked first on the iTunes Top Songs chart in 90 countries. Sales of the eight-track

Septuagenarian singer-songwriter releases new album with message of love for pandemic-stricken world