Our friends at Hwaum Boston Chamber Orchestra is giving the benefit concert for the Syrian refugees. This Saturday at 7:30 PM at the Korean Church of Boston, 32 Harvard Street, Brookline. The program will include Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Haydn’s Symphony No 44 (“Mourn”). The suggested donation of $20 will go toward the relief effort of the displaced Syrians.
Our friends at Broadway-to-Bosotn Theater company (B2B) and the Korean Cultural Foundation are presenting the musical “Broadway In Seoul” featuring Ryan Hill, Hilary Mayer, Heather Lee, Shannon Ignatius. It will also feature tenor Jyoungwoun Choi and Gayageum-singer Sukkyeong Won. It will be at the ECC main chapel, Nov 14, Saturday 7 pm. The ticket is $20 and can be purchased at the door on the day of the event. Discounts may be available for students and seniors. Please inquire at info@koreancultureboston.org .
A few years ago, the jazz violinist Echae Kang, as part of the group Aires de Argentina, performed in a concert of nuevo tango music. Since she finished her studies at Berklee, Echae has been very active in the Korean indie music scene. This fall, she could be seen on a smoking hot TV performance with the sensational singer Kim Phil.
*** Due to unexpected vocal cord ailment of the singer, the concert will feature the NEC guitarist Xiongguan Zhang in her place. We appreciate Xiongguan for accommodating the change at such a short notice!
It is Summer!
Keeping our Summertime habit that is almost becoming a tradition, we are presenting an Evening of Jazz music (“Summer - Peace - Jazz - Love”) on August 15th, Sat. (7 PM) at the Children’s Chapel.
The concert is free with a suggested donation of 10 $ and its program will include beautiful standards such as Embraceable You, But Not for Me, After You’ve gone and So in Love
Kyumin Shim, a jazz pianist of both sensitivity and swing, started out at the prestigious Seoul Institute of The Arts (SITA) in Korea on a scholarship as a prize winner in its Jazz Music Competition. Since 2009, he has studied at Berklee college of music on a scholarship. He moved on to New England Conservatory and obtained the Master of Music degree. Over the years, his mentors/collaborators included Jazz luminaries such as Joanne Brackeen, Danilo Pérez, Ed Tomassi, Hal Crook, Dave Santoro, Alain Mallet, Fred Hersch, Jason Moran, Jerry Bergonzi and Ken Schaphorst. He is in demand both as a soloist and as pianist of various ensembles at festivals such as the Newport Jazz festival(10), Club Rex in Toronto, Montreal Jazz Festival(11’, 13’), and the Jazz Festival at Martha’s vineyard. In the Boston area, he performed at Wally’s jazz cafe, Regatta bar, Lily pad as well as at Smalls jazz club, Shapeshifter lab and Jazz Gallery in New York.
Many of our musician friends who performed in Oasis Cafe or other events at ECC have graduated, moved on and are busy building their career. As of this summer, we have many great news from them!
I-Yun Chung, the leader of the group Aires de Argentina, who brought exciting world music to early days of the Oasis cafe series, had moved to San Francisco a while back, and is now performing as the pianist to the group Tangonero. They expect a CD coming out soon. She also got married recently. Congratulations!
Seungho Jang, who graduated from Berklee recently is now starting the Master’s course at NEC on a scholarship. During his recent visit to Korea, he teamed up with Kiwoong Choi (drums) and Jae Hoon Kang (piano - now at the Juilliard School of Music) for the old-times’ sake.
Both Kiwoong and Jaehoon seem very happy performing together.
Sumie Kaneko, the Japanese Koto and Shamisen player as well as a superb fusion jazz singer, has recently performed and conversed with an enthusiastic audience at the Museum of Fine Arts. A class act, adding some prestige to her busy resume!
Yumi Bae, who had played for us on several occasions performed as the featured soloist with the Boston University Symphony Orchestra last Spring. The piece was Bloch’s Schelomo, a notoriously difficult rhapsody, but beautifully pulled off.
Kudos to Eunhye Jeong, the leader of Sigimsae, the Berklee - Korean fusion group that had given us the memorable opening number at KCF60. After her graduation, she put out her first CD. It is the fruit of her successful crowd-funding campaign.
TeRra Han, the Kayageum player, has been busy back in Korea for the past year with CDs and performances at the prestigious stages in Korea, Japan and China. This Fall, she continued her series of full Sanjo performance, including a recital at the Carnegie Hall.
Check out the review of the event at the Andrew Weill Hall of the Carnegie Hall by the local press in NYC here.
Also the video of the full Sanjo performance from a Tokyo concert:
Echae Kang, the jazz violinist, has been busy back in Korea, and there is a growing recognition of her talent. In addition to the duo activities (Echae EnRoute) around the performance scene at the famed Hong-Dae area, she had a series of tour concerts around Italy earlier this Summer.
Eunae Anna Koh, the NEC violinist, who also performed at several events held at ECC chapel, recently placed the 2nd winner at the prestigious Michael Hill International Violin Competition held in New Zealand. You can “hear" the Brahms concerto flowing out of the photo below. Mind you she also performed Sibelius with the Hwaum Boston Chamber, and also a chamber piece (Boston premier) in a recent KACF gala concert. What a versatile and superb violinist she is!
Hiro Honshu, the veteran jazz musician, and his group Racha Fora have been actively performing in this area as well as in Japan, and they had a new CD out this Summer. It is a tribute to Miles Davis.
We feel very lucky to have had these talented people for our stage.
Oasis Cafe Music Night present Jazz and American Standards with Rina Jo Trio on July 11th. 7 PM at ECC.
Rina Jo Trio
RJT is a jazz trio consisting of three international Berklee musicians. Pianist, Rina, comes from South Korea and is accompanied by bassist, Marcelo, from Brazil as well as drummer, Kelvin, from Indonesia. Because of our diverse backgrounds and influences, our music becomes very unique and eclectic. In this set, we will be featuring vocalist, Catey Esler, from Chicago, who brings a captivating sultry yet sweet sound to the group. Together, we will be playing some standards and two of Rina’s own compositions, entitled "Heaven" and "Not Yet.”
The set will also include beloved American standards such as “Bewitched”, “You are too beautiful” and “My Way” as well as jazz classics “So What” (Miles Davis) and Billie’s Bounce (Charlie Parker).
The set will include the following:
1) Bewitched By Richard Rodgers/ arranged by Minjin Rina Jo
2) You are too beautiful by Rodgers/Hart
3) Just friend by Klemmer/Lewis
4) I remember Clifford by Benny Golson
5) My Way by Gilles Thibaud
6) So What by Miles Davis
7) Billies’e Bounce by Charlie Parker
8) Heaven, composed by Minjin Rina Jo
Pop-up Show
Brookline, MA
Date: July 6th to 11th
Opening reception: July 9th 6pm – 8pm
Address: Education & Community Center (ECC)
32 Harard St, Brookline MA 02445
Contact: Clara Lee
For those who seek a path in darkness
Your eyes will spark a shaft of light
So Heed, and let not be brought to nought
(by NoHae Park, from text accompanying photography exhibition ‘Andes’ in Seoul S. Korea 2013)
Four internationally travelled artists bring together unique interpretations on how individual memories transcend across cultures and geographical locations in contemporary times. The lifestyle of a global nomad, in which individuals travel abroad in search of inspiration and experience to enhance their practice is one that is more commonly being embraced by contemporary artists today. This sometimes means that individuals drift from one place to another without an established long-term residence, or in some cases, expanding their creative potential means departing their home for a foreign environment. The shift in cultural and geographical location directly influences one's sense of reality and interaction with their surroundings. Memory is the link that connects their past and present and bridges the familiar and the new. Unlike their tangible/physical belongings they take along their journey, memories do not require packaging to be transported from one place to another, hence is conveniently carried in the minds of the artist throughout their journey. Emerging from different backgrounds yet sharing the home country of South Korea as a commonality, these four artists currently based in Boston present works illustrating four keywords that each describe a specific quality memories. Together they investigate ‘memory’ as a concept that is deeply intertwined with their international experiences as well as their daily art practice.
Variance- In her photography work, Clara HY Lee creates multiple panels of works that re-use images of the same landscape with an abandoned tourist bus, altering the image in each work. In her wallpaper collage, the same image is rendered in 3 dimensional space by being projected onto plastic flowers then being re-photographed in its new form. This process reflects the individual’s variable experience of visiting the same landscape at over and over again. The same view can be perceived in a different way every time yet the perceptions can all co-exist as a bouquet of accumulated memories within our minds. Clara was one of the four graduating artists of the Boston/ Providence area to be invited to show in the 2014 Emerging Artist exhibition at Chase Young Gallery, Boston. (www.clarahylee.com)
REM Sleep- Dreams submerge with reality and takes on an organic form in the oil paintings of Sawool Kim. Each of her ambiguous yet vivid metamorphosis figures are drawn from memories of her dream, and has a function within the logic of the world described in the painting. They serve a purpose, which in many cases are symbolic of the role they are expected to perform in the common reality. However, numerous unresolved pieces still wondrously float in the air unable to find its ground in the logical mainstream, reminding us of the aspects of reality that cannot be rationally explained. Overall the works portray a world weaved of dreams, imagination, reality and mystery. Sawool exhibited in the 2014 National Prize Show with Cambridge Art Association. (www.sawoolkim.com)
Puzzle- The combination of delicate transparent paper and photography in JiEun Jang’s work focuses on the idea of memory as imprints of the path walked by the artist. They are traces of processes and progress. She folds and unfolds transparent paper leaving distinctive marks with graphite on the white paper every time a new fold is added. Eventually the paper is folded into a complete form and then dismantled to be documented as a photograph. The unfolded paper is covered with traces and marks of the intangible yet emotional references of her past that piece together the success of the present. JiEun took part in the 2015 New Talent Show at Alpha Gallery which was selected as the critic’s pick by Boston Globe in June 2015.
Memorial- Dealing with themes of social political struggles, DongJin Chung uses a mix of media ranging from watercolor to video projection in order to re-illustrate some of the most internationally discerning events of the current time. Drawing from the motifs of international affairs such as the Ebola epidemic, the works however focus on personal stories of the people involved. His motivation is driven by a strong belief that art can play a role in preserving stories that require remembrance by the public. He experiments with stylistic and methodical ways to express the complexity of these events, for example by combining an oil painting and a digital projection to show both the live footage and the emotionally charged painting of the same event on a single panel.
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Broadway to Boston Theater Company (B2B, Heather Lee, director), a group of musical chanteuses and local musicians, presents “Musical Ladies” on June 20th, Sat. (7 PM) at the Children’s Chapel in ECC of The Korean Church of Boston (KCB). B2B is donating their talent for this concert, a part of the on-going Oasis Café Music Night series by the domestic mission committee of the KCB. Oasis cafe aims to enrich cultural life of people in the community and provide performance opportunities for young up-and-coming artists. In this concert, Jina Jung, Ian DePriest and Heather Lee will present songs from popular musicals both old and new with Kyumin Shim, a Berklee-NEC jazz pianist, on the piano. The program is directed by Heather Lee (stage) and Robin Cho (music). The concert is free (suggested donation of $10). It is sponsored by KCB and the Korean American Cultural Foundation of Greater Boston (KACF).
Seungho Jang who also performed for the the Korean Cultural Festival(KCF) of 2013, as well as leading several Oasis Cafe Jazz concert recently had his recital (along with Kyumin Shim on piano) at Berklee. Here is a scene from the event:
Nayoung Baik, the Berklee violinist, who also performed during the KCF, also gave her senior recital:
Terra Han, who had headlined the KCF just had a solo recital, performing one of the Sanjo pieces complete at a prestigious venue in Korea.
Yumi Bae, the cellist, who played several pieces, some with Ms Han, for KCF and other Oasis cafe concerts, also had one of her recitals toward her doctoral degree, at the Boston University.
Miho Sato, the soprano, who led an interesting concert along with her Japanese friends, is having a Spring concert at St. Paul’s Church, our neighbor:
Sumie Kaneko, our dear friend musician, from KCF as well as Miho’s concert, is becoming a regular headliner in the Dhaka music festival. Here is a picture from last December:
Isaku Kageyama, the Taiko player, performing recently in the East Coast Taiko Conference:
