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 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 most widely known for his use of the 12- string acoustic guitar as a driving force in creating landscape musical fantasies, expressing longings and fulfillments through movements and melody, creating harmonies out of everyday moments captured within a daydream.

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.