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ClubThe OctagonNonhyeon-dong Near the New Hilltop Hotel in Nonhyeon-dong, this club is notable for its stylish interior and elite clientele. The venue offers a club stage, lounge bar and dining area to satisfy any night out after work or on the weekend. Near exit 4 of Hakdong Station on subway line 7. For more information, call (02) 516-8847. Club VolumeItaewon-dong Offering a venue for specially-themed weekly events and world-class DJs, Club Volume is located in the Crown Hotel near Noksapyeong Station. Club Volume was listed by Time magazine among the “10 things to do in 24 hours in Seoul.” For more information, call 1544-2635. Once in a Blue MoonApgujeong-dong Once in a Blue Moon is one of the best known and well established jazz clubs in the city. It features live jazz sets from two different bands every night, usually starting at 7:30 p.m. It is located between the Hakdong intersection and the Galleria department stores in the posh district of Apgujeong-dong. For more information, call (02) 549-5490 or visit www.onceinabluemoon.co.kr. Club AnswerCheongdam-dong Club A

Jan 3, 2013

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Classical ConcertsJi Yong Seoul Arts Center*Jan. 15Pianist Ji Yong will have a recital in Seoul. This is to celebrate his latest album “Bach Exhibition,” released on Oct. 11, 2012. He will perform pieces from his album such as Bach’s “Fantasia in C minor,” “Fantasia in C minor” (BWV 906), and Bach and Busoni’s “Chaconne from Parita No. 2 in D minor.” Tickets cost 30,000 to 70,000 won. For more information, call (02) 751-9606 or visit www.sac.or.kr. Seoul Philharmonic OrchestraSeoul Arts Center*Jan. 17Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Chung Myung-whun, will hold their first concert of the year in Seoul. The orchestra will play Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 5 Emperor,” and “Symphony No. 5,” featuring pianist Kim Sun-wook. A live recording of the concert will be made. Tickets cost 10,000 to 120,000 won. For more information, call (02) 3700-6332. Helene Grimaud Seoul Arts Center*Jan. 29French pianist Helene Grimaud will hold a recital in Seoul. In this concert, she will play numbers from her re

Jan 3, 2013

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 Clubs The OctagonNonhyeon-dong Near the New Hilltop Hotel in Nonhyeon-dong, this club is notable for its stylish interior and elite clientele. The venue offers a club stage, lounge bar and dining area to satisfy any night out after work or on the weekend. Near exit 4 of Hakdong Station on subway line 7. For more information, call (02) 516-8847. Club VolumeItaewon-dong Offering a venue for specially-themed weekly events and world-class DJs, Club Volume is located in the Crown Hotel near Noksapyeong Station. Club Volume was listed by Time magazine among the “10 things to do in 24 hours in Seoul.” For more information, call 1544-2635. Once in a Blue MoonApgujeong-dong Once in a Blue Moon is one of the best known and well established jazz clubs in the city. It features live jazz sets from two different bands every night, usually starting at 7:30 p.m. It is located between the Hakdong intersection and the Galleria department stores in the posh district of Apgujeong-dong. For more information, call (02) 549-5490 or visit www.onceinabluemoon.c

Dec 27, 2012

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Classical Concerts Israel Philharmonic OrchestraSeoul Arts Center*Jan. 5-6, 2013The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, led by conductor Zubin Mehta, will play Beethoven’s “Leonore Overture No. 3,” Rimsky Korsakov’s “Spanish Capriccios OP. 34,” “Variazioni, Andante con Moto,” Johann Strauss’s “Gypsy Baron,” “Annen Polka,” and Brahms’s “Symphony No. 1 in C minor” in this New Year gala concert. Tickets cost 50,000 to 380,000 won. For more information, call (02) 749-8821 or visit www.sac.or.kr. Korea National Opera Gala ConcertSeoul Arts Center*Dec 29-30The Korea National Opera (KNO) will hold a concert to celebrate its 50th anniversary. With the Korean Symphony Orchestra, Uijeongbu City Chorus, and Kim Yong-gul Dance Theater, the KNO will perform Bizet’s “Carmen,” Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte,” and “Chung,” a Korean Traditional opera written by Lee Yong-tak, the artistic director of The National Changgeuk Compnay of Korea. To mark the 200th an

Dec 27, 2012

Museum opens underpass today

The National Museum of Korea opened an underpass connecting its main entrance to Ichon Station today.                                                                   / Courtesy of National Museum of KoreaBy Chung Ah-youngThe National Museum of Korea stands majestic in the prime real estate area of Yongsan in central Seoul, where its grand stature enabled it to serve as the venue for the G20 meeting in Seoul in 2011. But since moving from Gyeongbok Palace in 2005, the museum has struggled with a decreasing number of visitors mainly due to the difficulty of getting there, which in winter means fighting against brutal winds in the winding path from nearest bus stops and subway station.The museum has solved the problem and it opened an underpass called “Moving Museum” today, which connects the nearest subway station, Ichon (subway line 4) and its front gate.According to the museum, an average of 3 million p

Dec 26, 2012

Kang relishes in complex role in 'Assassins'

Kang Ha-neul plays the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald in ongoing Sondheim musical “Assassins” at Yonkang Hall of Doosan Art Center. The show runs through Feb. 3.                                         / Courtesy of Sem CompanyBy Kwon Mee-yooIt’s been about a month since the third Korean production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Assassins” opened in Yonkang Hall of Doosan Art Center in central Seoul and Kang Ha-neul, 22, who is playing the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald, now understands the character better than ever before.“The stage is new and fresh to me every day. There is never perfection and something has to be changed all the time,” Kang said at an interview with The Korea Times.The provocative musical with Sondheim’s difficult yet stylish music revolves around nine people who assassinated or attempted assassinating U.S. presidents from John Wilkes Booth, who killed Abraham Lincoln, to Oswald, the supposed assassinator of

Dec 25, 2012By Kwon Mee-yoo

Kang relishes in complex role in 'Assassins'

Joseon's maps used as means of control

“Daedongyeojido” (Detailed Map of the Great East) by Kim Jeong-ho from the 19th century is on display at “Cartographic Achievements of Joseon” at the Seoul Museum of History through Feb. 28.                                                                        / Courtesy of Seoul Museum of HistoryExhibit shows cartographic history of last kingdomBy Chung Ah-youngIn Park Bum-shin’s novel “Gosanja (Man of the Mountain),” Kim Jeong-ho, a cartographer and geographer of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), struggles to make accurate maps despite opposition from the aristocracy. It portrays the cartographer’s difficulties in delivering the exact topographic information as the ruling class used maps to e

Dec 25, 2012

Tim Burton's world comes to Korea

“Blue Girl with Wine” by Tim Burton Courtesy of the artistBy Kwon Mee-yooIf you are looking for whimsical yet dark works of art, American film director Tim Burton’s fantastic world is on exhibit at the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) in central Seoul. Some 860 of Burton’s works from his earliest small sketches to those from his most recent movie “Frankenweenie” are on display for both children and adults.His pieces are dark, disturbing and mysterious, yet interesting and compelling. Films such as “Edward Scissorhands” (1990), “The Nightmare before Christmas” (1993) and “Alice in Wonderland” (2010) have helped Burton become a world-renowned movie director with a distinguishing artistic world ranging from reality to animation.The exhibit, debuting at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York in 2009, has been on tour since then via Melbourne, Toronto, Los Angeles and Paris. With Seoul being the only Asian destination and the final stop, Burton said that it makes it “extra special” at a press conference in

Dec 24, 2012By Kwon Mee-yoo

Caricatures of presidents on show

Visitors pass by a set of paintings motivated by President-elect Park Geun-hye at the exhibition entitled “Presidents Meet Comic Art” at the Korean Manhwa Museum in Bucheon, west of Seoul, Sunday.                                                                            / Korea Times photo by Cho Young-hoBy Chung Ah-young Various caricatures, dolls and cartoons featuring past Korean presidents are on show at a special exhibition titled “Presidents Meet Comic Art” at the Korean Manhwa Museum in Bucheon, west of Seoul, through March 31. Organized by the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency (KOMACON), the show is designed to commemorate the 18th Presidential Election, which took place on Dec. 19.“The exhibition featuring the past presidents as the subject of caricatures and cartoons shows that the status of Korean comic art has

Dec 23, 2012

History museum to open Dec. 26

The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History will open on Dec. 26.                                                 / Courtesy of Ministry of Culture, Sports & TourismBy Do Je-haeThe National Museum of Korean Contemporary History in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, will finally open next week, after four years of construction.Located right next to the U.S. embassy, it is one of the major cultural projects of the Lee Myung-bak administration.The purpose of the $41.3 million museum to open Wednesday is to honor the modern economic and social achievements of Korea.The glass-walled seven-story museum houses about 43,000 items in a collection covering the period from 1876, when the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) opened its doors to the outer world. It also touches on Japan’s colonization of the Korean Peninsula, the 1950-53 Korean War and the economic growth of the 1970s and 80s. The seven-story museum houses about 43,000 items in a collection that represents

Dec 21, 2012By Do Je-hae

Arts & Theater

Arts & Theater

Around Town 2

Around Town 1

Around Town 1

Around Town 2

Museum opens underpass today

Kang relishes in complex role in 'Assassins'

Joseon's maps used as means of control

Tim Burton's world comes to Korea

Caricatures of presidents on show

History museum to open Dec. 26

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