By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Korea and 10 member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN) signed an agreement Friday to establish an international folk music orchestra during the 2008 ASEAN-Korea Meeting on Cultural Collaboration Projects in Seoul and Gwangju.
Korea and ASEAN countries ― Brunei Darussalem, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam ― will form an ensemble that harmonizes instruments ethnic to each culture, bringing together the gayageum (12-string zither) from Korea, the Serunai (pipe) from Brunei and the ozi (long drum) from Myanmar, among others.
``We are seeking to further strengthen our friendship and cooperation through cultural coexistence, so as to increase mutual understanding and create stronger ties for the future,'' said Kim Jang-sil, vice minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, at the Seoul meeting, Thursday. ``My heart beats just thinking about Asian folk music experts and traditional musical instruments coming together to create a beautiful harmony. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said that music is the universal language of mankind.''
President of Chung-Ang University Park Bum-hun, who founded and conducted the world's first Asian music ensemble, the Orchestra Asia, in 1993, gave congratulatory remarks.
``I believe that today's meeting is the first step in realizing my dream,'' said Park. ``Unfortunately, unlike Western music, Asian music is not as well known or loved among people in other parts of the world. The reason is probably because we still bind Asian music in the name of tradition, and fail to make Asian music more accessible to the general public,'' he said, adding that the ASEAN-Korea orchestra will be a stepping stone in developing traditional music, helping it to become more in line with changing global trends while still preserving the values unique to each music culture.
One way to facilitate this process of globalization is industrializing the digitalization of traditional Asian music, said Choi Sang-wha, Chung-Ang University professor and president of the Korean Classical Music Digital Research Association.
``Art is science. In particular, music involves using science as a tool for musical content and performance. The advent of the ubiquitous era has brought with it an exponential increase in demand for digital music, which is based on science. In fact, digital music is now regarded as a high value-added industry.
``You don't have to be an expert, such as a composer or musician, to create such music. Nowadays, anybody can create high-quality music simply by using their computer… There is a need to transform our traditional music into digital audio data. This is because all users can now create music online based on one-stop services,'' said the professor.
Choi and his team have created 50,000 different pieces of audio data for 44 Korean classical instruments and vocal music. ``One-shot data'' stores short clips of different sounds, which can then be mixed and matched using a simple music program found on almost any personal computer. Anyone can add clips to the digital music score, and recreate a traditional folk performance or a gayageum version of pop songs like Sting's ``Shape of My Heart.''
``We have to create data that is unique to Asia, and realize value-added music and value-added industry,'' he said.
The Representatives Committee for the establishment of the ASEAN-Korea Folk Music Orchestra was officially set up the following day in Gwangju, announcing its aim to launch the orchestra by the end of the year. The first performance is slated for December at the ASEAN+3 meeting in Thailand.
The orchestra is a symbolic endeavor initiating a pan-Asia cultural exchange. ``We are creating a platform for musical exchange, so that artists from different countries can collaborate,'' an official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea told The Korea Times.
The Ministry also announced Thursday its project to establish Korea's southwestern city of Gwangju as a ``hub of Asian culture.'' At the very heart of this plan is the construction of the Asian Culture Complex by 2012. It will consist of a large park, theaters, and education centers and agencies that will promote and organize cultural exchange. It will facilitate networking among government agencies, cultural and arts organizations, civic groups and international institutes.
The Ministry proposed ``Friend City Project'' where ASEAN member nations would designate a ``hub city'' like Gwangju. Fellow ``friend cities'' would exchange delegations, performance groups, exhibition planners, artists and scholars for festivals, forums, conferences, joint projects.