Entertainment - The Korea Times

Maestro Chung to renew SPO tenure

'Overpay' controversy tarnishes Seoul Phil. music director's image By Do Je-hae What will be the definitive legacy of conductor Chung Myung-whun with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) after his renewed three-year term ends in 2015? The 58-year-old conductor and Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon agreed to a new contract last Friday, extending his current term which concludes at the end of the month. Despite causing a public stir for being paid an “excessive” salary, Park reportedly asked Chung to stay with the SPO. “I respect the passion he has given to the orchestra,” Park said after the meeting. “Under Chung’s leadership, I hope that the SPO will reach a level that the citizens can be proud of.” Chung expressed his hope to contribute to improving the level of the local classical music community. “It has been six years since I joined the SPO. Making a global orchestra is an extremely difficult task. We need cooperation from all sides,” Chung said. Chung’s new three-year tenure will be finalized during an SPO board meeting later this week. Because the Europe-based Ch

Dec 18, 2011By Do Je-hae

America-Korea friendship concert on Sunday

By Noh Hyun-gi The America-Korea Friendship Holiday Concert, featuring the Eighth U.S. Army Band and noted artists including soprano Shin Young-ok will be held at the Seoul Arts Center, southern Seoul, Sunday. The concert, organized by the Eighth U.S. Army, is to mark 61 years of friendship and alliance between South Korea and the United States for peace on the peninsula. Organized into two parts, the event will open with famed baritone Seo Jung-hack and the Eighth U.S. Army Band performing “And the Mountains Echoed: Gloria!” by Robert Longerfield. Dewayne Kendricks, the chief warrant officer four and conductor of the Eighth U.S. Army Band, will lead the performance. The first section will continue with more classics for the holidays like Tchaikovsky’s “Overture Miniature” and “Waltz of the Flowers” from “The Nutcracker” In the second part, soprano Shin Young-ok and the Violin Orchestra will present Shubert’s “Ave Maria.” The group comprises of some 70 violinists who are studying at Korean National Research Institute for the Gifted in Arts and Korea National uni

Dec 16, 2011

Show what you’ve got at 2012 auditions

By Noh Hyun-gi With the popularity of audition shows like “Super Star K,” “The Great Birth,” and “Survival Audition K-Pop Star,” the door to stardom has widened. This month, major Korean talent agencies JYP Entertainment, SM entertainment and DSP Media are starting their search for star material. JYP Entertainment, the agency for the Wonder Girls and 2PM, is now accepting applications for first round auditions for aspiring stars in six regions: Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Chungju, Gangneung, and Gwangju. The deadline for applications is the day prior to the audition date in each location. The agency is looking for fresh faces in five categories: singers, actors, models, VJs and producers/songwriters. One can submit an application with appropriate material at http://audition.jype.com. The final audition will be held in February, and the top three winners will receive opportunities to train with the agency. This year, JYP Entertainment is collaborating with a clothing brand Hum. One contestant from the final round will receive the Hum Star Award to become a trainee at the

Dec 14, 2011By Do Je-hae

Get holiday spirit with beats

By Noh Hyun-gi One of the joys of Christmas season is listening to the renditions of classic holiday songs as well as new beats that carry on the spirit by your favorite artists. After four years of absence, entertainment agency SM released “The Warmest Gift” on Tuesday. SM Town or the agency’s singers had released holiday music starting with the first album “Christmas in SM Town” in 1999. But it stopped producing such albums in 2007. This return to tradition features a vast lineup of the agency’s artists including TVXQ, BoA, Girls’ Generation SHINee and Super Junior. To global fans’ joy, all 11 tracks are in English with seven new songs and four remakes of holiday staples such as “Last Christmas” by SHINee and “Sleigh Ride” by TVXQ. The title track “Santa U Are the One” by Super Junior is an upbeat song that will surely entertain. The music video was released Tuesday, showing behind-the-scenes clips of SM Town artists working on the album. It is released today in Japan. R&B singer Kim Dong-ryul also made a long overdue comeback in time for the holidays. He re

Dec 13, 2011

Chung Trio plays for late mom

By Do Je-hae Mothers have played a deciding role in the development of prodigious musicians, like the members of the renowned Chung Trio. For violinist Chung Kyung-wha, her late mother Lee Won-sook was her biggest mentor and source of encouragement. Together with her pianist brother Chung Myung-whun and cellist sister Chung Myung-wha, the pioneering violinist played on the stage of the Grand Hall of Ewha Womans University Tuesday in a chamber music program to honor their late mother. The world's largest female educational institution hosted the concert for Lee, who graduated from the school in 1939. The program included pieces from Bach, Mozart, Rachmaninoff and Brahms. "Bach's Air on a G String is the last piece I played for my father before he died. The E minor violin sonata by Mozart is a piece the composer wrote shortly after the death of his mother," Chung said. This is the first time the trio has played in public here in seven years. In 2004, the Chung Trio held a five-city tour in Korea to celebrate their mother's 86th birthday. The 1967 Leventritt Comp

Dec 13, 2011By Do Je-hae

Girls’ Generation tops Japan’s K-pop chart

By Do Je-hae Girls’ Generation topped Tower Records Japan’s 2011 K-pop chart, according to the largest Japanese record store Monday. The nine-member group’s first Japanese album “Girls’ Generation” was released on June 1, containing their Japan debut track “Genie,” “Run Devil Run,” the original Japanese song “Mr. Taxi,” along with other songs, totaling 12 tracks. In second place was Super Junior’s “Mr. Simple,” followed by KARA’s “Girls’ Talk.” Another album by Girls’ Generation “The Voice” came in fourth place. The chart was based on 37 categories, including classical music, Japanese music, jazz and others. The store did not release the exact sales figures of the albums.

Dec 6, 2011By Do Je-hae

Jarvi in command at Paris post

By Do Je-hae Estonian-American conductor Pavvo Jarvi left the Cincinnati Symphony after a decade to fill some big shoes in Paris this year. The position of music director at the “Orchestre de Paris” (hereafter Paris Orchestra) had been occupied by such greats like Herbert von Karajan, Sir Georg Solti and Daniel Barenboim. The 49-year-old musician brought the top French orchestra to Seoul last week for two programs consisting of mostly French and Russian music. Jarvi chose music by two of the most revolutionary composers in classical music, such as Hector Berlioz and Igor Stravinsky. The first program was performed Friday at the Seoul Arts Center, featuring “Fantastic Symphony: An Episode in the Life of an Artist in Five Parts” by Berlioz. A program symphony written in 1830, it is one of the representative pieces of the early Romantic period. It has been rarely staged here despite its huge popularity. The following concert on Saturday was centered on Stravinsky’s ballet music “Petrouchka,” a story of a Russian traditional puppet composed in 1910. Korean pianist Paik K

Dec 6, 2011By Do Je-hae

Int’l K-pop fest to be held in Changwon

By Do Je-hae The final round of the “K-POP World Festival,” organized jointly by the Ministry of Culture, Sport & Tourism and KBS, will be held in Changwon, Wednesday. The event will also feature performances by some of the nation’s most popular bands, including Infinite, MBLAQ, T-Ara, Sistar, Secret and Boyfriend. The festival has invited performers from all around the world who passed the preliminary rounds of K-pop contests held at the overseas Korean cultural centers. The centers are run by the Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS), an affiliate of the culture ministry. The final round will be held at the indoor race track stadium in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, at 6 p.m. on Dec. 7. A total of 17 teams from 15 countries, including Argentina, the Czech Republic, Indonesia, Japan, the U.S., Poland, among others, will perform in the final competition, which will be aired live on KBS, the culture ministry said. The contestants were chosen during the last 8 months at the Korean cultural centers in the participating countries. Fans can participa

Dec 4, 2011By Do Je-hae

Crossover tenor returns

Im Taek-kyung to hold concert, release three recordings By Lee Hyo-won In September, Im Tae-kyung moved fans by reemerging on the stage of KBS2’s “Invincible Masterpiece 2.” After garnering many votes on the popular talent show for reinterpreting local pop classics, the crossover tenor suffered from chronic coughs and completely lost his voice. He had to stop hosting his radio show and even feared the end of his singing career. After undergoing treatment the 37-year-old has now returned fully recuperated, and is celebrating the occasion with a solo concert, ambitious recording projects and, moreover, a renewed sense of determination to work toward his dreams. “This is going to be my big comeback,” Im said about his concert this Saturday at Kyung Hee University’s Grand Peace Palace in Seoul, during a recent Korea Times interview. “I’ve been singing since I was five, and I never stopped, even when I had a cold or two broken ribs onstage during a musical performance. I kept on coughing without reason and I had to cancel everything — but I decided if I were to ‘die’

Dec 4, 2011

Cellist Chang Han-na to perform Rachmaninoff

By Do Je-hae The Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was one of the finest pianists of his days. But he managed to write one of the greatest cello sonatas of the 20th century, according to the Korean cellist Chang Han-na. Chang has chosen the work as the centerpiece of her first recital here since 2009. “It is a piece of extreme intensity and is full of moving melodies that speak to the heart,” the cellist-conductor said at a press conference Monday at the Plaza Hotel in central Seoul. “The sonata was written around the time Rachmaninoff wrote some of his representative works, like the second piano concerto and the second symphony.” His single cello sonata in g minor was largely overshadowed by the popularity of the second piano concerto, but it remains a key piece for cellists. Most of the themes are introduced by the piano, while they are embellished and expanded in the cello’s part. The world-renowned cellist will go on stage with her pianist and recital partner Finghin Collins at Seoul Arts Center on Dec. 8. “The cello sonata by Rachmaninoff is t

Nov 28, 2011By Do Je-hae

K-pop