a Teaser for the KACF Evening of Dance and Music [11.15.Sat 5PM]

On November 15th Saturday at 5 PM, KACF will have a concert of dance and chamber music. Here are the superb classical musicians Eunae Koh (v) and JeeHae Ahn (p) rehearsing some of the pieces they will perform. 

An evening of Klezmer music

KACF is co-sponsoring an evening of klezmer music, Saturday, October 25, 7:00 to 8:30. The band will be Too Klez for Comfort which includes Mike Neufeld, sax, Lisa Geller, bass and vocals, Steve Rauch, clarinet, Isaac Gibbons, drums (not Jay Rauch as shown), Phil Brown, keyboard, John Bassett, cornet, and Tom Rubenoff, trombone. Admission is free.  There will be refreshments. And there will be dancing! For more information: www.koreancultureboston.org.

News from our young musician friends

As part of the Berklee Global Jazz in Panama team, Seungho Jang performed in many concerts in the region, as well as in the Jazz Club of Danilo Perez, one of the most famous jazz pianists of his generation. 

Upon returning from the tour, Seungho then played with professor Hey Rim Jeon of Berklee in her public radio appearance with WICN.

Kyumin Shim, who played piano during the Korean Cultural Festival last year as well as in Oasis cafe with Kiwoong Choi, performed as the pianist of the Anthony Fung quintet in the Regattar Bar in Cambridge, one of the most prestigious jazz stages in the Boston area. The group’s first CD is out and available on iTunes for purchase at https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/chronicles/id891285933 Congratulations!

Echae Kang, the superb violinist who graced one of the oasis cafe concerts two years ago with the Aires de Argentina group, is back in Korea impressing the audience around the lively Hong-Dae and ITaewon areas with various jazz groups.

Kiwoong Choi, the veteran drummer who became friends with Oasis Cafe audience through his multiple concerts is back in Korea after a month of walking along the Camino de Satiago in Spain. When he is not busy fending off pressure from his parents to get married, he is also playing some music!

First concert of Hwaum Chamber Orchestra Season 2014-2015

Hwaum Boston Chamber Orchestra (Jinwook Park, music director - www.hwaumboston.org ) has its first concert of the 2014-15 season at the First Church in Cambridge. (9.27. Sat. 7:30 PM; 20$/ticket, Students Free) The program includes pieces by Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Janacek, Schoenberg and Respighi. 

Hwaum was founded in 2013 to help and sponsor young musicians and enrich our cultural life through classical music concerts. Each season, Hwaum gives two regular concerts as well as the chamber music series and various charity concerts. In the last season, they included concerts for the North Korean Refugees,  Blessed Lament (for KACF), and the memorial concert for the victims of Seweol accident.

In coming months, it will also perform in Rhode Island (10.5), as part of the 250th anniversary of Brown University festivities. For tickets and other information, contact sooihnee@comcast.net or 978.821.9434. 

News from our musician friends

Last October, KACF co-sponsored the Korean Cultural Festival in which the Kayageum player TeRra Han graced the concert along with many musicians familiar from our recent concerts. Among the highlights, the concert featured an interesting juxtaposition of the highly experimental Paintbrush Orchestra and the footages of video art by Nam June Paik who is considered the father of the modern video art. Last May, TeRra had her own spin on Nam June Paik, playing music by the eminent classical composer Sukhi Kang of Korea in the prestigious National Modern Art Museum as well as at the Seoul National University. The concert also featured the German musician Roland Breitenfelt on electronic sound.

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Sumie Kaneko, another dear musician friend of ours, spent a busy Summer week as the invited performer for the Dhaka Summer Concert in Bangladesh. 

 

Oasis Cafe with Seungho Jang Quintet

KACF is co-sponsoring the upcoming Oasis Cafe concert with superb Berklee Jazz musicians led by Seungho Jang. The quintet will try to cool the temperature with some cool jazz.  

The lineup has musicians from

Trumpet - Cosimo Boni

T.sax - Gregory Groover Jr.

Drums - Tiago Michelin 

Piano - Jaehun Kang

Bass - Seungho Jang

Scenes from rehearsal for "Broadway to Hollywood"

Broadway to Hollywood - an Evening of Musical Numbers from The King and I, West Side Story and Chicago

KACF is co-sponsoring the upcoming concert titled “Broadway to Hollywood”, an evening of musical numbers from such favorite musical-films as The King and I, West Side Story and Chicago.

The newly formed group “Broadway to Boston Theater Company” (B2B - Heather Lee, leader; Robin Cho, music director) is composed of veteran musical performers and musicians in the Boston area with Korean roots, and aims to further enrich the music culture for the community audience while creating various performance opportunities for the budding musical talents. In their inaugural concert, hosted by ECC Oasis Cafe and co-sponsored by KACF, the program is built around segments of three beloved musicals from the past and the recent: The King and I, West Side Story and Chicago. The evening promises to be a delightful sampling of exciting and beautiful moments from these classics. The casts include veteran and budding musical talents backed by the superb band of Berklee musicians. The concert is free for seniors and children. Donation of 10$ or more for regular admission would be great and help us support musicians.

The following are the bios of the cast:

Gina Chung has a Master’s degree in vocal performance from Boston Conservatory. She appeared in the musical “Jesus Christ Super Star (Maria)”, “Beauty and the Beast, Swing" (Bell, Barbette) as well as highlight shows of “The Phantom of the Opera (Christine)", "Grease, (Sandy)” among others. She also performed as a member of KBS broadcasting. She won a Korean National Drama Award for Best New Actress. She is currently the director of Boston Korean Musical Singers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hugh Cha appeared in Off Broadway shows such as Bronze Mirror(Fang Hou/Second Master) and Chalk Circle(Guard). He lso performed  in The King and I as Lun Tha (Lyric Theatre of OK), Anything Goes-Luke (North Shore Music Theatre, MA), Proper Place-Tomsett/Tiger (Goodspeed Opera House, CT), Archives & Etchings(Principle Dancer), Miss Saigon(Thuy) in various parts of the US; Film Credits include A Story of the Woods(Lead, Rochester Film Festival Shoestring Trophy), Love Me Tango. He also performed as dancer in Ground Hounds Breakdance Crew, Kinnect Modern Dance Company, ROC Multicultural Dance Group; MFA, Boston Conservatory, BFA, Brigham Young University. (www.hughcha.com) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heather Lee performed in Ruth The Musical as Naomi (KCB), K-Pop Night(KCB) and participated in Hair as the vocal coach (The Longwood Players, MA), as well as in Cinderella, Snow White The Musical, and Pipin as the director. She took on various roles in other concerts: The Yodler as director (the Alpin Rose Yodel Club, Korea), Harvard International Night, Harvard Commencement Concert, Harvard annual Christmas Concert, Handel Society Annual Concerts, Haydn Society Annual Concerts, Annual Summer Concert Series of the Alpin Rose as a member of performers. She has a ScD in School of Public Health from Harvard University.

Ian DePriest majors in theater performance at Berklee College of Music. Past credits include Legally Blonde (Padamadan),Hair (Ensemble), and Into The Woods (Cinderella's Prince).  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robin Cho (Music Director) is a composer and pianist from Berklee College of Music and has been actively playing in the field of dance and theater. She composed the music for "Ruth: The Musical". She joined the B2BTC as the music director. 

Martha Simmons (Choreographer) is a native Texan who just recently graduated from The Boston Conservatory with an MFA in Musical Theater. Some of her favorite roles include: Miss Dorothy (Millie), Cinderella (Into the Woods), Scotty (Merrily We Roll Along), and Tammy (Hairspray!). She has performed at TMEA, TETA, been a recording vocalist for Stemscope Music Educational Records, and been in three small films; Sub-Normal, El Nino, and Quitting Time. On top of performing she is also a choreographer and has choreographed many things in the Dallas & Central Texas area as well as assisted with shows at The Boston Conservatory including Hair and Elegies. While attending Boston Conservatory she has also worked for her church here in Boston, City on a Hill Church, helping lead worship.

The members of the band are Chungsung Ethan Kim (Piano), Lydia Yu-Lin Wang (Violin), Seungho Jang (Bass).

  

Memorial Concert for the Victims of Seweol Ferry Accident

Scenes from recent KACF Spring Concert "Blessed Lament"

'Blessed Lament' - an evening of talks and original music on the Korean Han [April 26 Sat 7:30 PM]

This coming Saturday on April 26, Korean American Cultural Foundation presents “Blessed Lament : Talks and Original Music inspired by Korean Han (Bitter Sorrow)"

 

Suggested donation 10$ at the door; Students/Seniors free. For reservation, contact KACF at info@koreancultureboston.org. Light snack and drinks provided during intermission.

The program features original music composed by Jae Hyeok Jang accompanied by his lecture and include the following:
Lecture about Han and My Music (Jae Hyeok Jang, composer)"Heavenly Peace"  for flute and piano“Longing I, II” for soprano and piano"Bird, Bird Bluebird” for violin solo"Nocturne for a Whispering Violin”, violin“Echo” for voice and piano"Blessed Lament”  for flute, violin and piano. The last piece was commissioned by KACF. 

Performers are Jae Hyeok Jang (composer & piano)Jin Wook Park (violin) - Hwaum Boston Chamber Orchestra, conductorYoumi Cho (soprano)Jisun Oh (flute)Yoengsin Kim (mezzo), Eunae Koh (violin) and Eun Hee Seok (piano).

According to the composer:

The sentiment of “han” is precious to Koreans. Han contains love and pain, joy and sorrow, and longing; there is spirituality in han. I believe that the sentiment of han can be sublimated into a life of hope, beyond the lament. If han lets one meet God and come to know His providence and guidance, then it is a blessing. To know God’s providence means that a life of pain and despair changes into a life of blessing and hope. This is what I understand to be the sentiment of han. I am pleased to be able to introduce han as a blessing through my music at this concert. Various ensembles will portray the sentiments of violent anger, understanding and acknowledgement, longing and hope, and blessing. As a contemporary classical composer and a church musician, I am happy to share the sentiment of han with the audience and to teach about traditional Korean music such as shijo-chang.

Dr. Jae Hyeok Jang is a Korean-born composer who has deep roots in the eastern culture and composes music in the spirit and image of Korea. He uses the Korean emotions, based particularly on han or “bitter sorrow”. He continually explores ways to express han in various musical contexts and styles using contemporary musical vocabularies.Jang studied composition at Keimyung University (B.A.), Manhattan School of Music (M.M.), and Boston University (D.M.A.), and has finished master’s program in conducting at Boston University. He studied composition with Lukas Foss, Samuel Headrick, Marjorie Merryman, Nils Viegeland, and Aaron Jay Kernis; and studied at Mozarteum Summer Academy, IRCAM, Conservatoire Americain Fontainebleau, and Acanthes Avignon Music Festival with Helmut Lachenmann, Sofia Gubaidulina, Kaaja Saariaho, Marco Stroppa, and Samuel Adler. Jang has written commissioned works for Boston University Tanglewood Music Institute, Da-ism International Contemporary Music Festival, Boston Korean-American Cultural Foundation and Parkway Concert Orchestra. His music has been performed in Europe, Asia, and America including CMS (College Music Society) conferences. His music was premiered on Korean Broadcasting Systems (KBS), and he received the Best Contemporary Piece for Performance Award at Conservatoire Americain Fontainebleau in France. Most recently, he gave a lecture about Sijo-chang and his compositions at Contemporary Composition Conference at Trinity College in Dublin Ireland.Jang studied both orchestral and choral conducting, has conducted Moody Oratorio Chorus & Chamber Orchestra, Romania Bacau Philharmonic Orchestra, Fontainebleau String Ensemble and New England Korean Church Festival Choir & Orchestra, and directed Exeter Symphonia Orchestra, Choir at Korean Presbyterian Church in Greater Boston, Boston Korean Chorus and Chicago Little OL Korea Arts Foundation. Jang taught at Boston University and Phillips Exeter Academy, and currently teaches at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago as an assistant professor and the coordinator of composition program.

Hwaum Boston Chamber Orchestra "Russian Music Night"

 

[Hwaum Boston Chamber Orchestra (Jinwook Park, conductor) and the pianist JeeHae Ahn, playing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concert No 2 @ Granoff Music Center, Tufts University.]

The following is an excerpts from the local press reporting on the concert: [go to  the original article]

또 하나의 아름다운 음악회가 창조됐다. 화음 보스톤 챔버의 ’봄 음악회2014’ 이다. 지난 22일 Tufts대 Granoff  Music Center에서 열린 봄 음악회는 특별히 여러 분야의 분들로부터, 또 음악회의 여러 면에 대해 많은 찬사를 받은 Spring Concert 였다. 이번 음악회를 책임 진 화음 보스톤의 대표 입장에서 볼 때 우리 한인오케스트라 ‘화음 보스톤’의 젊은 연주자들이 너무나 자랑스러웠고 기획자로써도 보람 있는 값진 음악회였다. 박진욱 음악감독의 음악적 역량과 열정을 다시 한 번 확인하는 훌륭한 연주였고, 피아니스트 안지혜 씨(변화경교수 사사)의 라흐마니노프  피아노 Concerto No.2연주는 최상의 수준이었기에 모든 관객이 숨죽이며 감상한 멋진 봄 음악회였다. 경쾌하고 생동감 있는, 모짜르트의 ‘피가로의 결혼’서곡으로 이쁘게 시작된 음악회는, 곧이어 모든 음악애호가에게 사랑 받는 차이코프스키의 ‘비창’과 라흐마니노프의 피아노콘체르토 No.2 , 두 대곡을 한자리에서 감상할 수 있는 좋은 기회였다. 너무도 잘 알려진 곡들이지만 오디오로 들을 때와는 비교할 수 없는, 너무도 생생해서 그 섬세한 색채와 화음이 눈에 보이는 듯 세세하고 민감한, 아름다운 부분들이 오감을 통해 직접적으로 느껴져서, live로 들을 때에 visual또한 그 음악의 진수를 맛보는데 큰 도움이 된다는 것을, 나 자신이 사랑하는 이 곡들을 들으며 보며 새삼 느꼈다.  한마디로 대곡의 진가를 마음껏 음미할 수 있는 훌륭한 음악회였다. 연주자들도 리허설을 하면서 이 음악들을 진심으로 enjoy 하며 열심으로 연습했다는 얘길 들었기 때문에, 관객과 연주자가 하나되는 기쁨이 있어 참으로 보람이 있었다. 또한 음악회정보를 달라고 전화해주신 많은 분들과 여러 얘기를 직접 나누며 교류할 수 있었던 것도 좋은 경험이었다. 구순을 바라보는 한 어르신과는, 차이코프스키와 라흐마니노프의 레퍼토리에 대해, 또 음악을 사랑한 일생에 대해 얘기를 나누며 친분을 나누었고, 한국 입양아를 둔 미국가정과 국제결혼을 하신 분, 음악공부를 하는 자녀를 둔 한인 분들 등 많은 사람들과 여러 가지 이야기를 나누면서 한인오케스트라에 대한 자부심과 기대를 나누는 기회가 되기도 했다. 한 러시안 관객은 큰 감동으로 음악을 들었다면서, 러시안 커뮤니티에 ‘Russian Night Concert’ 광고가 전달되지 않은 것을 몹시 아쉬워했다. 그 관객은 화음 보스톤의 높은 수준에 감탄을 연발했고, 앞으로 화음 보스톤의 활동을 더 넓게 알리자고 용기를 북돋아주기도 했다.

화음보스톤의 창단취지대로 이 지역의 뛰어난 재능을 가진 한인음악가들에겐 좋은 연주 기회를 주어 밀어주고,  Korean으로서의 자부심을 갖게 해주는 수준 높은 음악회로 한인사회에 문화적 기여가 이루어지는 역할을 해나가는 한인오케스트라가 될 것을 다짐해본다.  화음 보스톤 챔버는 한 해 두 번의 정기연주회와 세 번의 화음 챔버 앙상블 연주, 병원 방문 연주, 또 ‘집으로 찾아온 클래식 음악회 house concert’등으로 다양하게 일 년 기획을 준비하고 있다. 화음 보스톤 챔버는 우리가 사는 보스톤 지역 전문 음악인들로 구성돼 있다. 아름답게 성장해 나갈 수 있도록 많이 많이 성원해 주시고 기대해 주시고 또 지켜봐 주시기 바란다. 다음 연주는 5월에 화음 챔버 앙상블로 추진되고 있다. www.hwaumboston.org  (장수인 화음보스톤 대표) 

The concert was co-sponsored by KACF.

Scenes from Seungho Jang Quintet Concert

I remember you

The quintet whose members included two Koreans, two Israelis, and an American, presented five Jazz standards. After the concert, the musicians, audience mingled and shared food provided by our friends at ECC.

 

Jaehun Kang (center) is soon to head off to Julliard School Masters program.

 

Our friend Kiwoong Choi (who has led a series of Summer Jazz concerts for us last year as well as other concerts) with his brand new camera.

A snapshot with the head of KACF(near center), ECC programming committee members and friends from Brookline neighborhood.