A performance of SNU Dept. of Korean Music

On October 13, around 90 students from the Department of Korean Music performed at the 2016 University Korean Traditional Music Festival held at the National Gugak Center in celebration of SNU’s 70th anniversary. Every year, various universities in Korea such as SNU, Ewha Womans University, and Chung-Ang University take part in the annual Gugak Festival in order to showcase the talents of the Korean music department of each respective school and to celebrate Korean traditional music. From October 4 to 19, a total of ten schools participated in this year’s festival, with each school having its own night to perform a full program.

The SNU ensemble performed a total of seven pieces, including original compositions by professors from other universities such as “Flight of Birds” composed by Professor Thomas OSBORNE (Ewha Womans University) and “Kush Nama” by Professor CHUN In Pyun (Chung-Ang University). “Kush Nama” is a piece that tells a story of a Persian prince escaping Arabia with his people composed by Professor CHUN In Pyun (Chung-Ang University). The evening’s program also included a gayageum piece accompanied by orchestra, performed by second-year student JANG Sam Soo from the Department of Korean Music and a haegeum solo performed by KIM Su Min accompanied by BANG Ji Won, who played the janggu.

This concert would not have been possible if not for the hard work of the students who prepared for months for the performance. In total, around 90 students performed in this concert with instruments including the gayageum (a 12-stringed zither), the geomungo (a zither that is plucked with a bamboo stick), the daegeum (a bamboo flute), the piri (a bamboo wind instrument similar to an oboe), the haegeum (a two-stringed bowed instrument), the janggu (an hourglass-shaped drum), and various other Korean traditional instruments.

Written by: Yu Young Jin coin1234@snu.ac.kr
Proofread by: Professor Travis Smith, Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations, tlsmith@snu.ac.kr