The sound of now: young Korean creators redefine tradition and form
Composer-conductor Choi Jae-hyuck and haegeum player-composer Joo Jeong-hyeon have been on the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts' radar since the launch of its summer contemporary music series, The Sync Next, in 2022.
This year, for the first time, the center brought them together to explore what kind of synergy might emerge.
The performance, part of the Sync Next 25 program running from July to September at the Sejong Center's S Theater, pairs Choi's ensemble, Ensemble Blank, with Joo, an experimental haegeum player whose work spans performance, composition and video. It also marks their first-ever collaboration.
'Joo is an expert improviser — she's especially known for combining the haegeum with other elements in bold, experimental ways,' Choi said during a recent interview. 'We, on the other hand, are trained to play strictly notated scores. So we thought, why not try blending the two? Some parts are composed, others are improvised. It's a challenge for both of us, which is exactly why we think the audience will experience something truly new.'
Choi, who first gained international attention as the youngest-ever winner of the Geneva International Music Competition's composition category in 2017, leads Ensemble Blank, a contemporary group known for its adventurous programming.
'Both Ensemble Blank and I are people who constantly think about what it means to be contemporary, and how we can achieve that. So I think the main focus of this collaboration will be creating sound together — building something collectively, rather than just presenting individual pieces,' Joo said.
Joo is a 2024 recipient of the Korea National Academy of Arts' Young Artist Award.
The program on Friday and Saturday opens with Alexander Schubert's 2014 piece "Serious Smile," a hyper-digital, rhythmically driven piece. This is followed by a striking contrast: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina's "Ave Maria a 8 voci," written in 1572, arranged for wind and string instruments, offering a moment of Renaissance polyphony and meditative calm.
Joo takes the stage solo with a haegeum improvisation, highlighting her signature blend of embodied technique and spontaneous expression.
The program continues with Choi's own 'Straight to Heaven,' a large-scale ensemble work that moves with cinematic intensity.
The evening will also see Ensemble Blank and Joo perform the Asian premiere of Jessie Cox's "Quantify,' an experimental piece from 2017 that explores the interplay of sound, identity and time.
The program concludes with the world premiere of Joo's 'Primitive Happiness,' a new audiovisual work written for Ensemble Blank that fuses live instruments and video.
The stage design for this performance reflects the playful creativity of the two artists. The setup features a small triangular stage and a larger triangular stage positioned opposite each other, like an hourglass, with the audience seated in between.
As Choi and Joo, both born in 1994, and Ensemble Blank explore a borderless space where familiarity gives way to unexpected listening, Choi emphasized the importance of simply knowing that certain artistic experiences exist.
'Even if it's unfamiliar at first, having that encounter becomes part of one's inner world — something you can return to, draw from and eventually express,' he said.
Joo echoed that sentiment, offering a reflection on Korean audiences.
'Lately, as I've been doing more work in Korea again, I've really come to feel that Korean audiences are far more open to a wide range of things and are actively seeking out new experiences. Especially among younger generations, I think we're now in a time when people embrace stimulating, dopamine-releasing experiences without resistance,' she said.
'In that sense, maybe what we're doing won't feel all that unfamiliar after all.'
Two performances will take place at Sejong Center's S Theater: At 7:30 p.m. on Friday and at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
gypark@heraldcorp.com
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