Thursday, September 20, 2018

The Same River, Twice - Sound of Korea in Flux [9-30-Sunday 5 PM]

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KACF is co-sponsoring a Sunday afternoon concert with our friends at ECC. The concert will feature the group “Saawee”, an eclectic trio of musicians with firm background in Korean musical tradition but equally versed in experimental and improvisational collaboration. Special guest Do Yeon Kim, the Gayageum virtuoso, will also join.

Earlier this year, NYTimes gathered five young immigrant artists as panelists for a forum titled "Immigrant Artists and the American Dream”. This is what Sita, who is to play violin in the concert, as one of the panelists had to say:

“What people don’t always recognize is that we are all benefiting from the rich cultural diversity. Behind every culture is the influence of our neighboring cultures and on a broader spectrum every culture commonly carries the most humanistic side of us. As a musician, it is my duty to invite all musicians to come together and create art that’s ground-building and celebrates culture. Because, when all else collides, music unites. Instruments, for example, reflect that. String and percussion instruments show that human side of us: our common thread and our heartbeat.” 

The title (and the theme) of the concert derives from Greek philosopher Heraclitus: "No man ever steps in the same river twice". While K-Pop is getting ever popular in the global stage, it is just a thriving branch that grew on the fertile bed of Korea’s musical tradition which is deeper, wider, and ever-changing. The musicians/performers featured in this concert have their musical ancestry going back centuries, yet they are ever stepping on new paths through experiments and collaboration with musicians from different cultures and genres. The river flows and artists evolve. We invite the audience to join and cheer for their quest.

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More about the Performers: 
 
Do Yeon Kim’s first album, GaPi, made with pianist Chase Morrin, was recently the finalist for a Korean Music Award, the Korea’s Grammy. She was also selected as an 2018 Emerging Artist by the St. Botolph Club Foundation. 
Violinist Sita Chay is the first and only Korean artist to ever win the Latin Grammy. Because of Sita’s unique ability to improvise and absorb different cultural music she has been in demand for versatile world music scenes including Afro-Caribbean music, Korean folk music, Bulgarian dance music, Flamenco and Indian raga. Most of her performances and compositions involve improvisational aspects and a combination of old and new techniques from both western and eastern music. 
Percussionist and Performance artist Jihye Kim has BA and first MA in Korean traditional percussion at Korean National University of Arts and MA in ethnomusicology from University of London, UK. She was awarded the Grand Prize at the KBS Korean Traditional Music Award as a member of “Ensemble Sinawi” group in 2012. She is currently a member of the London-based band “Urban Sound” and the group “Saawee”. 
Percussionist and Dancer Insoo Park has a PHD in literature from Korea University, MS in Korean traditional mask dance from the Korea National Academy of Arts, as well as being the Bongsan Mask Dancer (Korean national intangible cultural Asset No. 17). He collaborated with the world renowned percussionist Duksoo Kim as a mask dance soloist. He has also led the creative mask dance company, Dodam Dodam incorporating traditional dance language and contemporary philosophy into the artistic mix.

Free admission. Snacks and beverages will be served after the concert for conversing among the artists and guests. 

9.30. (Sunday) 5 PM. 
ECC chapel, 32 Harvard Street, Brookline. 

Monday, April 9, 2018

Piano Trio of Forte NY chamber music night!

KACF is sponsoring the “Piano Trio of Forte New York” featuring Vicky HyunJin Lee (violin), Yu Mi Bae (cello) and  Hyojin Rhim (piano) as part of the community concert series "Oasis Cafe Presents". The concert is on Sunday, April. 22, 2018, 5:30 p.m. at the ECC Main Chapel of KCB, 32 Harvard Street in Brookline. The program will include exciting pieces from the classical and the modern era such as the “Ghost” trio by Beethoven (op. 70 No. 1), Cafe Music by Schoenfield, solo pieces by Brahms and Walton. 


Please join us for an afternoon of exciting chamber music and free refreshments. For more info, check out https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-community-concert-an-oasis-cafe-presentation-tickets-44776532815 

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Monday, February 26, 2018

After the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Healing the Deepest Fracture…

It is not often that we get to see a top notch writer of Korean heritage writing about Korea in New Yorker. On the heel of the successfully ended, and politically loaded Winter Olympic Games 2018, here is a personal glimpse of hope for the two Koreas by the best-selling author of Pachinko and National Book Award finalist Min Jin Lee

"After the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Healing the Deepest Fracture…"

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KACF sponsors Festivities for the Lunar New Year Celebrations at the Boston Children's Museum

KACF in a partnership with Korean Paper Art Group (Mija Yun, dir.) and the Boston Children’s Museum, sponsors the fun during the museum’s Lunar New Year Celebration. Our staffs were there to demonstrate Korean traditional games and capture the fun for children and parents alike. 

For more info, visit the museum’s web page about the event. 

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Congratulations to GaPi on their nomination for The Korean Popular Music Awards!

Congratulations to Do Yeon Kim and Chase Morrin, who have performed in KACF concerts since 2017. The duo performs under the name GaPi which derives from Ga(yaguem) and Pi(ano) of which Do Yeon and Chase are young masters. The groups first album that was produced in Korea through the prestigious CJ Culture Foundation’s support, has recently been nominated as the best album in the Jazz/Crossover category for the Korean Popular Music Awards (the Korean equiv. to the Grammys according to the media). The album contains several pieces that were introduced to KACF audience during the Elegy for the Fallen (2017) and Spring Awakening (2018) concerts. Here are videos that captured the exciting performance at the time: