GLOBAL | LOCAL MUSIC SERIES:
Seo Jungmin (South Korea)
with Alexander Turnquist (Kingston, NY)
June 26, 8 pm, PS21 Pavilion Theater
ABOUT GLOBAL | LOCAL II:
Gayageum virtuoso Seo Jungmin is a soloist, ensemble player, and composer whose repertoire straddles the borders between traditional Korean and contemporary music. The modern gayageum, a 25-string zither-like instrument descended from its sixth-century ancestor, is played by plucking, strumming, and pushing the strings with both hands. In her original compositions, Seo creates bridges between classical Korean forms and native shamanic singing and a cosmopolitan palette drawn from contemporary Eastern and Western vocal and percussion practices. Her latest album, One, My Utopia!, is a mesmerizing blend of the gayageum’s soft, delicate, and subtle tone, shamanic vocals, and percussive sounds inspired by the shamanistic Gut ceremony of the Jeolla-do region. For her PS21 concert, Seo will be accompanied by the percussionist You Byungwook and Kim Yulhee, a Pansori Korean folk singer.
Kingston-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Alexander Turnquist will open the evening. Turnquist is widely known for using his 12-string acoustic finger-style approach to create dramatic, emotionally engaging music and dreamlike harmonies out of everyday moments. “Turnquist is masterful.” —Uncut
GLOBAL | LOCAL: Musical Worlds Meet at PS21
Our new season-long series features musicians from across the world and from our backyard. The series examines the intersection of two ideas: the continuing need to open our minds to international art and perspectives, and the growing importance of local community, place, and togetherness in an increasingly decentralized and digitized world. PS21 resides in a hotbed of creativity—the Hudson Valley—and many of its finest musicians will be presented alongside world-class international acts in this summer-long series.
SEO JUNGMIN
Gayageum artist and composer Seo Jungmin was a member of the renowned Korean traditional music duo Su:m for nine years. Together with Park Jiha, who played piri (double reed instrument), saenghwang (free-reed mouth organ), and yanggeum (hammered dulcimer), Su:m earned global recognition through their appearances at WOMEX (Worldwide Music Expo), the UK’s WOMAD (World of Music, Arts, and Dance), and SXSW (South by Southwest).
In 2016, Seo released her debut solo album, COSMOS 25, which was nominated for Excellent Crossover Album at the 2017 Korean Music Awards. On One, My Utopia!, which she premiered at the 2022 CINARS Biennale and was selected as PAMS Choice at the Performing Arts Market Seoul, Seo was accompanied by the award-winning Korean Pansori singer Kim Yulhee and percussionist You Byungwook.
ALEXANDER TURNQUIST
Alexander Turnquist is a Kingston, NY, based multi-instrumentalist and composer widely known for using his 12-string acoustic finger-style approach to create dramatic, emotionally engaging music and dreamlike harmonies out of everyday moments. Uncut magazine described his playing as “masterful. His right-hand technique is as orchestral as Nick Drake’s, sending rivulets of steel sadness out across the water, but applied to a minimalist logic with the weight of early Philip Glass or Steve Reich.”
This engagement of Seo Jungmin is made possible in part through the Performing Arts Global Exchange program of Mid Atlantic Arts with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
This program is supported in part by Center Stage Korea, Korea Arts Management Service, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Arts Council Korea.
