KOREAN FEVER: RETURNS
by Rami Seo’s World Music Ensemble
2021 OPEN STAGE
“Goodbye 460 Park, Building the Future Together”
Presented by the Korean Cultural Center New York
Friday, May 28, 2021, 12 pm
KCCNY YouTube Channel
The third performance we present is KOREAN FEVER: RETURNS by the Rami Seo’s World Music Ensemble.
Since the 1988 Seoul Olympics to the 2000s, Korea has enjoyed remarkable economic growth and renaissance in the cultural and artistic world. “Korean Fever: Returns” is a project that shows the hope and desire to enjoy a time of prosperity and growth once again after the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic Games. It is a world tour that begins in Korea and travels to the US, Africa, Asia, and Europe and gives dreams and provides healing to audiences. While much has been lost due to the coronavirus, this time of great loss has also proved to be an opportunity for Korea to show its potential as a leader in the future of economy, culture, and medical science. While gayakeumist Rami Seo wasn’t able to continue the world tour that was planned for France and South Africa in 2020, through this new platform for performing music, she hopes to provide a time of healing and comfort to all those who love and appreciate Korean culture and Koreans around the world.
Rami Seo’s Ensemble, comprising New York’s top musicians, aspires to breathe with, and share an appreciation for life and art with the audience. Moreover, Korean immigrants around the world will be able to relate to the joys and sorrows, embedded in the music, that Rami Seo has herself experienced as an immigrant artist.
PROGRAM
1. Arirang
Gyeok Kim (Composition)
Eunhee Ahn (Choreography)
Rami Seo (Gayageum)
If I had known what a long journey this would be, I may not have left Korea.
Arirang, sung 7000 miles away from home, is the embodiment of my mother, kimchi, and Korea.
2. Love Song (Arrangement)
Unknown (Composition)
Hokyung Choy (Arrangement)
Jinwook Hong (Vocal)
Some have come to pursue a loved one; some have come to start a new beginning.
To survive, we plant ourselves where we are and build strong roots in this new place and continue on with our lives.
3. Donde Voy (Arrangement) - Premiere
Tish Hinojosa (Composition)
Hokyung Choy & Rami Seo (Arrangement)
Eunhee Ahn & Sun Young Park (Choreography)
Dayea Oh (Vocal)
As immigrants, we embrace the confusion of identities and the meaning of life.
Where do I go? Who am I?
There is a loneliness and fear that even I cannot explain to myself.
4. Far Away (Arrangement)
Joong Hyun Shin (Composition)
Rami Seo (Arrangement)
Jinwook Hong & Dayea Oh (Vocal)
Far away are the family, friends, and loved ones whom I left behind in Korea.
People who have parted experience loss every day.
Even those who have left this world, have yet to return home.
5. The Slope of Andalusia
Hojoon Hwang (Composition)
We endure times of death, times of wanting to give up on life, times of suffering by embracing the Korean spirit. We spread out our folded wings, and soar around the world.
By blending traditional Korean rhythms and melodies with the Spanish music scale and use of the flamenco dance style movement, the dancing, singing, and playing in The Slope of Andalusia represents a unique Korean way of expressing “sadness,” “compassion,” and “happiness.”
6. Dynamite (Arrangement) - Premiere
David Stewart & Jessica Agombar (Composition)
Rami Seo & Hokyung Choy (Arrangement)
Dayea Oh & Jinwook Hong (Vocal)
BTS has produced a global fandom avid for Korean performance arts.
Indeed, BTS’s “Dynamite” has proven to be the world’s favorite song in 2020.
Korean Fever Forever!
7. A Sinawee for Korean Fever (Arrangement) - Premiere
Rami Seo (Arrangement)
Sun Young Park (Choreography)
Eunhee Ahn (Janggu)
Jinwook Hong (Vocal & Jing)
The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered unprecedented challenges and loss, but we still have faith. I imagine a global revival, and that Korea will enter a period of a second renaissance!
Photo by Jamie Jang
Rami Seo (Gayageum)
Hokyung Choy (Guitar)
Daseul Kim (Bass)
Dongguk Pak (Saxophone)
Whanho Oh (Drum)
Jinwook Hong (Vocal)
Dayea Oh (Vocal)
Sun Young Park (Dance | Guest Artist)
Eunhee Ahn (Dance | Guest Artist)
Han Lee (Media Arts | Guest Artist)
* Hanbok sponsored by THE HANBOK
Rami Seo's World Music Ensemble is a world music project team based on Korean traditional performing arts established in 2007 to promote Korean traditional culture and arts to the world. The ensemble performs in all genres of music including classical music, jazz, crossover, and contemporary creative music, as well as traditional music. Rami Seo‟s World Music Ensemble has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center (First Korean), UN, Canon Hall in the White House, in addition to consulates of many countries.
Rami Seo, with the experience of more than 2,000 performances and a graduate degree in ethnomusicology, and her project World Music Ensemble comprising acclaimed jazz musicians is planned for a full-scale world tour Korean Fever: Returns in 2019-2021. Through Korean traditional performing arts, this program will take viewers to experience various different genres, from traditional to modern. This world tour project aims to bring comfort and solace to Koreans around the world, support their lives as immigrants, and inspire pride as Koreans and in Korean culture.
ABOUT KCCNY’s OPEN STAGE
First introduced in 2012, Open Stage has been playing a crucial role in presenting opportunities for rising performers not only based in New York but also directly coming from Korea to display their talents to a wide New York audience. Now in its 7th season, Open Stage is continuously expanding its existing platform, presenting various genres of works including Korean traditional music and dance, modernized Korean creative world music, jazz, as well as contemporary dance and theater. This year, through a highly-competitive process, six groups have been chosen to put on yet again another uniquely wonderful showcase, online.
To check out the lineup of <2021 Open Stage: “Goodbye 460 Park, Building the Future Together”>, please click here.