Call for Entries for Creative Gugak Competition '21C Hanguk Eumak Project'

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is hosting, and Gugak FM is sponsoring the '2020 Gugak Creative Composition Development - 14th 21C Korean Music Project,' which will accept submissions from April 20 to May 6.

The 21C Korean Music Project is the oldest creative gugak competition in Korea and serves as a gateway for emerging gugak artists. To date, 111 gugak creative compositions have been developed through this competition, and 13 albums have been released. This year marks its 14th edition.

Notable musicians who have uniquely inherited Korean traditional music through this competition include the ethnic pop group 'Project Ak (樂)' (2007), well known to the public for the song 'Nangam-hane,' as well as 'Bulsechul' (2007), 'Project Ensemble Sinawi' (2008), 'Gugak A cappella Toris' (2009), 'Goraeya' (2010), 'Go Young-yeol × Seo Ho-yeon' (2016), and 'Heystring' (2017). These artists actively promote the popularization and globalization of gugak both domestically and internationally.

Winners of the 21C Korean Music Project receive support including artistic direction and expert mentoring, as well as opportunities for overseas performances. In 2018, performances were held in China, and last year in Hong Kong. Additionally, winners are provided with continuous opportunities through various public concerts, TV, and radio appearances.

This year’s winners will also receive support such as rehearsal rooms, mentoring, profile photo and video shoots, online music distribution, music video production, and overseas performance opportunities to facilitate international networking.

Since the launch of Gugak FM TV (olleh TV channel 251) last December, this year’s 21C Korean Music Project final stage will be broadcast live on TV.

Prizes and certificates will be awarded to all 10 teams advancing to the finals. The grand prize winner will receive the Prime Minister’s Award and a cash prize of 15 million KRW; the gold prize winner will receive the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award and 7 million KRW; two silver prize winners will receive awards from the National Gugak Center Director and Gugak FM President along with 5 million KRW each; two bronze prize winners will receive the Gugak FM President’s Award and 3 million KRW each; and four encouragement prize winners will receive the Gugak FM President’s Award and 2 million KRW each.

The competition is open to unpublished creative compositions in free form based on Korean sensibilities, combining gugak and various genres. Applicants can be individuals or teams of up to 10 members, with no restrictions on age, education, experience, or nationality. Teams that have previously won the grand prize are not eligible to apply again.

Composer Yang Seung-hwan will serve as the artistic director again this year, continuing from last year.

For more detailed information about the competition, please visit the 21C Korean Music Project website or the Gugak FM website.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.