Jeonju Sori Festival to Kick Off Sept. 26
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
Alls kinds of musical performances ranging from jazz to traditional chanting will resonate in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, the home of pansori or Korean traditional opera, Sept. 26 to Oct. 4.
``The 2008 Jeonju Sori Festival'' will feature 3,852 musicians from 14 countries in 230 performances at the Sori Cultural Arts Center and other locations around the city.
Under the theme ``Sound, Entertainment,'' organizing committee chairwoman Ahn Sook-sun said, ``We want to share many things with people through sori (which means sound in Korean). As the theme suggests, we want visitors to enjoy the festival and have fun through music.''
The nine-day festival consists of four major sections ― an intensive pansori program; a domestic invitation performance; a foreign invitation performance; and other side performances.
The opening concert titled ``Sharing Sound, Adding Pleasure'' featuring percussion master Kim Duk-soo and pop group SG Wannabe will be held at an outdoor stage on Sept. 26.
``Celebrated Singers' Concert'' performed by male pansori masters, Cho Tong-dal, Kim Il-goo and Song Sun-seop will be on Sept. 29.
Jung Heoi-chun, organizing committee member of the festival, said that this year's festival will focus more on pansori through performances by the nation's representative masters.
For ``Celebrated Pansori Singers and Fammily,'' pansori masters Jung Sun-im, Sung Chang-soon and Lee Il-joo will sing ``Simcheongga,'' one of the five surviving stories of the Korean pansori storytelling tradition, on Oct. 1-3.
``Gyeonhweon,'' changgeuk or Korean classical opera, will present the epic drama on Sept. 27.
For the retrospective program, the festival will shed light on legendary pansori singer Im Bang-ul (1905-1961) Oct. 4. Pansori masters such as Cho Tong-dal and Im Hyang-rim, Jung Chul-ho and Kim Yu-haeng will appear to pay tribute to the late master. Born in Gwangju, South Jeolla Province, Im has been recognized as the voice of the century and named the unprecedented ``Gukchang,'' meaning ``the national pansori singer.''
For the domestic invitation performance, ``The Dream of the Dynasty, Peace Prelude'' will be staged on Oct. 1, while a gala concert by musical actors from ``Notre Dame de Paris'' will be held on Oct. 3. The festival will also present ``The Royal Ritual Music and Pansori'' which was designated an Intangible Cultural Assets by UNESCO.
For the foreign performance section, ``Soul of China'' presented by the Beijing Ming Ying Global Arts Troupe, will be staged on Oct. 2. Fanfare Ciocarlia, a Romanian brass band consisting of 12 members, will perform on Oct. 4, while celebrated jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves will grace the festival on Sept. 27.
``World Class Percussion Ensemble'' featuring drummer Tommy Campbell and Korean musician Han Dae-soo will make harmony on Oct. 1.
Traditional melodies played by the Mongolian State Morin Khuur Ensemble will greet Korean fans on Sept. 30.
For the street performance section titled ``Blue Marble,'' folk music troupes from France, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico and Japan will offer various music genres on Sept. 27-Oct. 4 on streets around the city.
In addition to the official events, street concerts and parades will take place outside major venues, carrying music all around the city. Soft popular music and fringe performances are expected to add color and liveliness to the festivity.
``World Primitive Instrument and Primitive Fine Art Exhibition'' displaying international antique instruments, including Korean traditional instruments, will be held on the first to third floors of the Sori Cultural Arts Center on Sept. 20-Oct. 4.