HUFS to hold concert featuring ‘Arirang’ in 10 languages

A special concert featuring the Korean folk song “Arirang” in 10 different languages will be held in Seoul next month.

Hosted by Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, the folk song will be performed by the school’s student choir, HUFS Choir. The event was organized to celebrate the first anniversary of the song’s registration on the UNESCO Intangible World Cultural Heritage list.

The choir is scheduled to sing “Arirang” in English, Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian, Arabic and Korean. The university’s student broadcasting network, FBS, is to produce a music album of the song in the 10 languages.

The concert will also feature a number of songs from two successful homespun musicals, “Pimatgol Sonata” and “Musical Hero,” in different languages.

HUFS also plans to translate a total of 47 versions of the folk song ― many variations exist in different regions nationwide ― into 45 foreign languages and publish them in book form.

The concert will be held on Dec. 3 at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Imun-dong, Seoul.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)