Heavenly Vocal Harmonies in Seoul
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
Wonderful voices can be ``the best instrument,'' more expressive, powerful and versatile than any type of instrument.
Four vocal groups will gather to showcase the harmony of their vocals without instruments at the first World Vocal Music Festival titled ``Amazing Voice 2007.''
The festival will be held at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts Aug. 10-11.
The line-up features Swedish five-member a cappella group Real Group, American six-member M-Pact, Australian foursome The Idea Of North and Finnish six-member Rajaton.
Real Group is a household name in Korea as one of the world's top a cappella groups frequently featured in TV commercials.
Comprising soprano Johanna Nystrom, alto Katarina Henryson, tenor Anders Edenroth, baritone Peder Karlsson and bass Anders Jalkeus, the group composes or arranges most of their songs for their performances and albums. Most of the group's recorded songs are sung in English with the remainder sung almost entirely in Swedish.
M-Pact is an LA-based vocal group, which was designated as ``artist of the year'' at the 2005 LA Music Awards for its R&B, soul and jazz.
This rising star in contemporary a cappella circles began to be known to Korean fans when they held their first concert in Korea last year.
The Idea of North, an Australian a cappella vocal ensemble founded in Canberra in 1996, made a big international debut winning the 2003 Harmony Sweepstakes event in California, the largest a cappella competition in the world. They were the first non-U.S. group to win the competition.
Although the group is generally styled as a jazz quartet, its repertoires are wide, including jazz, pop, R&B, classical, folk, soul and hip-hop.
Thought of as the best contemporary a cappella group in Australia, the group was awarded Best Jazz Album and Best Jazz Song at the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards in 2005.
Rajaton is a Finnish a cappella choral ensemble, founded in Helsinki in 1997. The name of the group, ``rajaton,'' means boundless, in which the group tries to express their repertoires ranging from sacred music to near Euro-pop music.
Rajaton performs primarily in Finland, but also tours around Europe and the rest of the world to extend its fan base. Rajaton appears regularly in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada for the Festival 500 choral festival and took part in the Kaleid Choral Festival in Woodstock, Ontario as guest artists in 2005 and 2006.
About 100,000 copies of the album titled ``Kevat'' have been sold worldwide.
During the festival, the four groups will sing the festival song together, which they also wrote and recorded together.
The festival is expected to be held annually as the representative vocal music festival in Asia, according to Vincero, the organizer of the festival.
Tickets cost from 30,000 to 120,000 won. For more information, call (02) 599-5743.