Traditional Korean music made a strong impression on American audiences when one of Korea’s most celebrated composers and performers, Hwang Byungki, took to the stage for an East Coast tour organized and supported by The Korea Foundation and The Korea Society.

Hwang, a composer and kayagŭm virtuoso who has performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall and Paris’ Musee Guimet in the past, played a one hour and ten minute program of elegant classics, including “Sounds of the Night” and “Moon of My Hometown.” The program also included several of his contemporary compositions, which strike a singular balance between natural and abstract sounds. The New York Times has written that Hwang’s work “suggest[s] the musical equivalents of mystically inspired watercolors, [which] musically illustrate the concept of translucency with finely spun webs of sound created by extremely delicate strummings.” Hwang was accompanied by five of Korea’s most prominent musicians: Park Jaeho (taegŭm), Heo Yoonjeong (kŏmungo), Ji Aeri (kayagŭm), Kim Woongsik (changgo) and Kim Nari (vocals).    

Packed auditoriums were the rule during Hwang’s three-city tour, which began on May 30 at Boston’s Museum of Fine Art. The June 2 performance in New York, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, drew an audience of 500. The June 5 performance the Smithsonian’s Meyer Auditorium in Washington, D.C. drew a full house. Dozens of fans who had arrived with the hopes of buying tickets at the door had to leave disappointed.

The crowds were as enthusiastic as they were large. Each performance received standing ovations. If the tour had a low note, it was that it wasn’t longer. But American aficionados of Korean culture weren’t left completely adrift by Hwang’s departure. His last show, played at the Smithsonian’s Baird Auditorium on June 7, was part of a special event to celebrate the opening of the new Korea Gallery at the National Museum of Natural History.

Maestro Hwang became a legendary figure in Korean music with his 1962 composition, "The Forest," the first kayagŭm piece ever composed in a contemporary idiom. Since then he has been enlightening the world with his musical explorations, playing for audiences at venues like New York's Carnegie Hall and Paris' Musee Guimet.

Throughout Hwang's work, natural and abstract sounds-the sound of autumn leaves, the sounds of the night, of an ancient castle, of the moonlight- are translated into musical form with stunning clarity and elegance. The New York Times has written that "Mr. Hwang's pieces suggest the musical equivalents of mystically inspired watercolors, [and] musically illustrate the concept of translucency with finely spun webs of sound created by extremely delicate strummings."

This one hour and ten minute concert will feature Hwang's folk-inspired kayagŭm sanjo, as well as selections from his fifth album, Spring Snow.

Maestro Hwang will be accompanied by five of Korea's preeminent musicians: Park Jaeho (taegŭm), Heo Yoonjeong (kǒmungo), Ji Aeri (kayagŭm), Kim Woongsik (changgo) and Kim Nari (vocals).

For more information, please contact Jennifer Jin Kim at The Korea Society at (212) 759-7525 ext. 309 or  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

• May 30, 2007 at 7:30 PM, Museum of Fine Arts (Boston) website
• June 2, 2007 at 4:00 PM, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Auditorium (New York) pdf flyer   website
  *following  a 3:00 PM lecture by Soyoung Lee, the Met's Korean art curator. 
   Lecture and performance are part of "Saturday at the Met—Celebrating the Art and Music of Korea."
   
• June 5, 2007 at 7:30 PM, Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art (Washington D.C.) website