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Conductor summons Hogwarts to Seoul in live 'Harry Potter' concert
Next week, wizards, witches and anyone who has ever wished they were will gather at Seoul’s Sejong Center for Performing Arts for a magical reunion. From Oct. 24-26, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I in Concert" will bring the final battle of the wizarding world to life — on screen and through the soaring, Academy Award–winning score by Alexandre Desplat, performed live by the Seongnam Philharmonic Orchestra. For fans, it is a chance to take a magical adventure through Harry, Ron and
Oct. 17, 2025 -
Reviving 'Seopyeonje': Art of pansori, obsession and father’s shocking choice
A sense of doom fills the air. On a dim, blue-tinged night, the stage turns slowly, almost dizzyingly. A father paces in agitation before pulling a small vial from his sleeve and, with grim resolve, sprinkles its content — cheongangsu, a caustic liquid — into his daughter’s eyes. The girl cries out to her father in pain. The harrowing scene is from “Seopyeonje; The Original,” the latest production at the National Jeongdong Theater of Korea, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year with a
Oct. 17, 2025 -
Korea National Opera's latest: Korean story with 9 female singers, regional dialect
Set in April 1950, three months before the outbreak of the Korean War that would stretch to 1953, “Hwajeonga” unfolds in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province. To mark her 60th birthday, Madame Kim proposes a spring flower picnic rather than a traditional banquet. Nine women share their stories, singing and comforting one another amid the silence left by the men lost to the tides of history. Written by the renowned Bai Sam-shik, the National Theater Company of Korea premiered the play in 2020 to cri
Oct. 16, 2025 -
Between kimchi and Haribo: Koo Jaha explores boundaries in art and identity
Koo Jaha, a Korean director, writer, composer and performer based in Europe, continues to explore what it means to live between cultures. Following his acclaimed “Hamartia” trilogy — "Rolling and Rolling," "Cuckoo" and "A History of Korea" — Koo presents “Haribo Kimchi,” which premiered in Brussels last year and will be staged in Seoul from Thursday to Sunday at Quad in Daehangno, the city’s small theater district. Often described as a hybrid form that merges music, video and robotic performers,
Oct. 15, 2025 -
Intangible Heritage Festival in Jeonju aims to reach across generations, borders
The 2025 Intangible Heritage Festival will bring Korea’s cultural legacy to life from Oct. 23 to 26 at the National Intangible Heritage Center in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. Organized by the Korea Heritage Service and the National Intangible Heritage Center, the festival seeks to blend traditional and modern elements, uniting generations, regions and even global audiences. The festival kicks off with an opening ceremony at 5 p.m., Oct. 23, followed by a show titled "The Beginning of Intangibl
Oct. 15, 2025 -
Seoul International Music Festival celebrates dance
Seoul International Music Festival returns this year with six performances under the theme “Dance with Me,” inviting audiences to experience the energy and joy of music through the universal language of dance. From waltz to tango to ballet, the festival shares with audiences the vitality and joy of life that classical music conveys through dance, the element that has shaped Western music history for centuries. This year’s lineup features cellist Gary Hoffman, horn virtuoso Radek Baborak and cond
Oct. 13, 2025 -
Cellist Daniel Muller-Schott returns to Seoul with a program bridging centuries
Seven years after his last scheduled recital in Seoul was canceled, German cellist Daniel Muller-Schott returns to Korea for a long-awaited performance on Oct. 12 at the Seoul Arts Center, joined by pianist Cho Jae-Hyuck. Their program spans different eras of German music — “contrasting yet connected,” as the cellist described it — centered on Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 3 and Brahms’s F-major Sonata, with Webern’s concise Op. 11 and the lyrical warmth of Schumann’s Fantasiestucke, Op. 73 round
Oct. 10, 2025 -
Professors bring new versions of classic ballets
As fall settles over Seoul, veteran dance experts Kim Sun-hee and Jang Seon-hee, two university ballet professors, will host reimagined versions of "The Little Mermaid" and "The Nutcracker," respectively, at the National Theater of Korea in October, marking new chapters after academia. Having recently retired from their long-held teaching posts, the two leaders stand at the threshold of their second acts — and have chosen to mark the moment on the stage and under their own names. New wave for 'S
Oct. 9, 2025 -
National Theater revives Greek tragedies in 5-part epic 'Anthropolis'
The ancient city of Thebes has long been a stage for the great dramas of Greek mythology. Founded, legend has it, by the Phoenician prince Cadmus as he searched for his abducted sister Europa, the city became a birthplace of gods, a center of worship and the setting for some of the most enduring tragedies. Dionysus, the god of wine and revelry, was said to have been born there, while King Oedipus fulfilled the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother. Aeschylus, Sophocles and Eurip
Oct. 3, 2025 -
Strings and rituals: Korean artists bring spirit of tradition to Europe
Two acclaimed works from Seoul’s performing arts scene will travel to Europe this fall, according to the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture. Two previous winners of the Seoul Arts Award, now in its third year, will tour eight cities in seven countries this October and November, with a total of 12 performances. The first leg of the tour features geomungo virtuoso Heo Yoon-jeong, who won the inaugural grand prize. Her work “Masterful Harmony” brings together the timbres of traditional Korean in
Oct. 1, 2025 -
Hannah Cho becomes first musician of Korean descent to join Vienna Philharmonic
The Vienna Philharmonic, one of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, has appointed Korean American violinist Hannah Cho (Cho Soo-jin) as a full member. The appointment makes her the first musician of Korean descent to join the 183-year-old orchestra since its founding in 1842. According to the classical music community on Monday, the orchestra, which currently has 148 members, confirmed Cho’s appointment to the second violin section following a final vote on Sept. 22. Securing a permanent se
Sept. 29, 2025 -
Three musicals lighting up Seoul stages
For those eager to step away from their smartphones and experience the immediacy of live performance, Seoul’s theaters offer a rich and varied lineup this season. Among the many productions on stage, three stand out for their ability to entertain, challenge and connect with audiences across generations: “The Great Gatsby,” “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “Red Book.” Adapted from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic novel, "The Great Gatsby" brings to life the excesses and fragility of the Roaring Twenties. Lavish
Sept. 27, 2025 -
'Theater can be solution to all our problems'
"Her name is Rosetta Sherwood Hall. My name is Emma Sue Harris. I'll be playing Rosetta." “Her name is Rosetta Sherwood Hall. My name is Brad Burgess, and today I’ll be playing Rosetta!” So begins “Rosetta,” the first production in Asia by The Living Theatre. Onstage, all eight cast members — diverse in race, gender and age — take turns embodying the same woman: Rosetta Sherwood Hall, an American doctor and missionary who devoted her life to advancing medicine and education for women in Korea in
Sept. 25, 2025 -
Seoul Philharmonic’s van Zweden unveils a diverse, chameleon-like future for the orchestra
The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s fall and winter program sets out a vision for the ensemble’s future, the orchestra's music director Jaap van Zweden said at a press conference on Tuesday. At its core, he explained, it will showcase diversity and the orchestra’s chameleon-like colors. “It is a blueprint of what we have done over the past year, balancing legacy with adaptability. The future for a symphonic orchestra is to be a chameleon,” he said. “A good example sits right next to me. He educat
Sept. 23, 2025 -
Exploring contemporary society through 'lens of entanglement and friction'
The 25th edition of Korea’s leading international performing arts festival, the 2025 Seoul Performing Arts Festival, will take place Oct. 16-Nov. 9 across major Seoul venues, including the National Theater of Korea, Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, ARKO and Daehakro Arts Theater. This year’s theme, “Entanglement and Friction,” is inspired by Korean-German philosopher Han Byung-chul’s idea that true meaning and beauty emerge not from flawlessness but from imperfection, conflict, negation, u
Sept. 23, 2025