Lim has many performances scheduled across the globe. One of the perks of his win -- along with the cash prize of $107,500 -- was the opportunity to perform around the world. Lim’s solo recital to commemorate his win is set for Dec. 10 at the Seoul Arts Center. Before the recital, he will take to the stage at least four times in South Korea: Aug. 10 for “Bach Plus,” Aug. 20 with the KBS Symphony...

Beautiful Mind, a cultural and diplomatic charity organization, and audio equipment brand KEF last week signed an agreement to promote culture and arts for people with disabilities. The agreement covers cooperation in music education for children with disabilities and adolescents from low-income families as well as their orchestra activities, Beautiful Mind said in a statement. The agreement inc...

There was one common element at four different theaters across South Korea on Thursday night. They all staged the music of American composer Frank Wildhorn, the great mind behind musicals “The Man Who Laughs,” “Death Note,” “Mata Hari” and “Jekyll & Hyde.” “That’s 7,000-8,000 people every single night listening to my music … all I can say is that I’m the luckiest guy,” Wildhorn said in an interv...

DAEGU -- The iconic Daegu International Musical Festival kicked off Friday, returning in full blast for the first time in three years. The opening event took place at Kolon Bandstand Stage, joined by generation-spanning musical actors as well as aspiring students, including Nam Kyeong-ju, Choi Jung-won, Michael Lee, Park Gun-hyung and Kim So-hyang. This year’s iteration brought back foreign mus...

The musical features actors that are not only talented in singing and dancing, but also with taekwondo abilities of a competitive level. Twenty-two actors went through six months of training to prepare for their roles. Among the actors, five are professionally trained taekwondo athletes. For former taekwondo national athlete Um Ji-min, in particular, who is a part of the World Taekwondo Demonstr...

The KNIGA, fully funded by the government, was officially founded in 2008, after being operated as a preliminary school for Korea National University of Arts for several years. With three campuses across the country, the KNIGA currently has nearly 100 young students of classical music. Another pillar that supports young musicians is the Kumho Cultural Foundation’s programs for musical prodigies...

(gypark@heraldcorp.com)

As musical enthusiasts will know, these separate adaptations were being prepared simultaneously during the 1980s. When “The Phantom of the Opera” became a success on the West End, it effectively halted Broadway’s plans to release“Phantom,” which was instead made into a TV miniseries in 1990. Some of South Korea‘s up-and-coming musicians, including cellist Mun Tae-guk, clarinetist Kim Han, flutis...

Lim said he participated in the competition to check himself and where he stood in terms of the maturity of his music. “I am more worried than anything else," Lim said after winning the competition. "I wanted my music to become deeper, and if that desire reached the audience, I’m satisfied," he added. A native of Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, Lim is among the few Korean winners of an internationa...

The Blue Man Group, a nonverbal stage show that blends art, technology, music and comedy, finally returns to South Korea after a pandemic-induced delay, marking their first time back since 2008. The show “that is not meant to be taken too seriously” will provide a pleasure and fun to Korean audiences as the three bald and blue characters with a special vision explore the world without words. Th...

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Wednesday said that it has appointed pianist and professor Chang Hyoung-joon as the new president of the Seoul Arts Center. Starting Friday, Chang will lead the country’s top art complex for the next three years. Born in 1962, Chang received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from the Manhattan School of Music. He has been teaching piano...

Tuesday‘s event was hosted by the Corea Image Communication Institute, and participants included French Ambassador Philippe Lefort, UK Ambassador Colin Crooks, Swiss Ambassador Dagmar Schmidt, Greek Ambassador Ekaterini Loupas and Kim Won-Soo, chairman of the International Advisory Board of the Future Consensus Institute. (gypark@heraldcorp.com)

Stagnant ‘K-musicals’ Perhaps aiming for a global stage back in 2007 was going too fast at the time. It was less than 10 years after the first licensed musical was introduced, and South Korea’s musical industry was still growing. Now, Park believes Korea’s musical industry, which accounts for more than 70 percent of the revenue generated in the performing arts sector in the country, has great p...

The bold backdrop and extravagant costumes that portray the Belle Epoque and the theatrical setting provide great visual pleasure. Two actors lead the musical as Mata Hari -- Ok Joo-hyun, who appeared in the previous two productions in 2016 and 2017, and Solar of K-pop girl group Mamamoo, who makes her debut as an actor in a musical with “Mata Hari.” Armand, a French pilot and Mata Hari’s lov...

A Korean Australian writer’s novel for young adults takes inspiration from an educator and independence activist who spent much of his life in exile in the early 1900s. The book, titled “The Young Resistance and Korean Language School,” gives us a look at Li Mirok -- a writer and educator who is perhaps known better in Germany, where he spent rest of his life since 1922. Li published several bo...