Gwangju Seo-gu to Host 'Thursday Open Gugak Festival' from 7th to 21st

Published 07 Dec.2023 11:27(KST)

Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Kim Ikang) announced on the 7th that it will hold the ‘December Thursday Open Gugak Festival’ every Thursday at 7 p.m. from the 7th to the 21st at the Bitgoeul Gugak Training Center performance hall to celebrate the end of the year.

December Thursday Open Korean Traditional Music Festival Poster. [Photo by Seogu]

The first performance on the 7th will be presented by the Lee Young-ae Gugak Art Troupe, led by Lee Young-ae, the holder of the Gwangju Metropolitan City Intangible Cultural Property Gayageum Byeongchang. They will showcase ‘A Night Where Companionship Shines.’

This gugak concert is created together by the youth, young adults, and senior generations, offering a variety of stages where you can feel the depth of Namdo sounds, including pansori, gayageum byeongchang, gugak songs, ipjechang, and folk songs.

Following that, on the 14th, the gugak project group Reum (Re:音) will perform ‘Sirireong Siksak’ on stage.

Reum is a gugak project group that crosses various genres such as traditional gugak and fusion, presenting diverse works. In this performance, they will present original compositions that recompose or adapt traditional pansori Heungboga motifs by adding modern rhythms in Reum’s unique style.

Finally, on the 21st, to welcome the upcoming winter vacation, the creative group Kkakdugi will present the gugak magic play ‘Simcheong.’

This performance is richly composed of magic, creative pansori, percussion, and puppet shows based on the most familiar ‘Simcheongga’ narrative among the five pansori repertoires.

In particular, the audience will be encouraged to participate and respond throughout the performance, allowing them to become Simbongsa and step onto the stage, offering new sights and enjoyment to the audience.

The performances are free for everyone to watch, and each show will also be live-streamed through the Bitgoeul Gugak Training Center’s YouTube channel as a non-face-to-face service.

For more details, please contact the Culture and Arts Division of Seo-gu, Gwangju, or the Bitgoeul Gugak Training Center.