Live piano music meets poignant narrative

In his essay “I Am Melody,” pianist Kwak Yoon-chan says jazz is the music of the less privileged. “Jazz emphasizes the unstressed beat, instead of the stressed.”And the musician certainly empathizes with his pianist character in the on-going play “Novecento,” Italian playwright Alessandro Baricco’s most famous work. The unique character, named Novecento in honor of the 20th century ― it means 900 in Italian ― was born in 1900 on the transatlantic ship the Virginian. His parents abandoned him by

PerformanceDec. 17, 2013

Damaged Torah scrolls from Iraq buried in N.Y.

WEST BABYLON, New York (AP) ― Torah scroll fragments found amid a trove of more than 2,700 books and documents in the flooded Iraqi intelligence building basement have been buried in a religious ceremony at a suburban New York cemetery.“This project is somewhat reflective of the new Iraq,” said Lukman Faily, the Iraqi ambassador to the U.S. “We are saying we would like to share and preserve the history and the heritage of the Jews, of the Christians, of the Muslims.”The artifacts were found in M

CultureDec. 17, 2013

Rome goes back to the 1970s to celebrate art heyday

ROME (AFP) ― The heady years of artistic experimentation and cosmopolitan life in Rome in the 1970s are the subject of a new exhibition that opens in the Italian capital on Tuesday.Two hundreds works by some of the most famous artists of the time, including Alberto Burri, Cy Twombly, Jannis Kounellis and Sol Lewitt are on show at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni.The main artistic currents of the time are represented, including Arta Povera and Transavanguardia, as well as the lesser known “Anarchite

PerformanceDec. 17, 2013

Gianna Jun proves aging is good

With her long, lean legs, velvety hair, and sassy image, Jun Ji-hyun ― known as Gianna Jun in the U.S. and China ― has remained at the top of Korea’s entertainment scene for more than a decade. Ever since playing the protagonist in the smash-hit movie “My Sassy Girl” in 2001, Jun has been one of few actresses who can boast longevity through a handful of films and heaps of TV commercials. For a long time, she topped the surveys of men’s favorite actresses and, moreover, represented a new generati

TelevisionDec. 17, 2013

Beyonce sells 617,000 albums in 3 days of iTunes release

NEW YORK (AP) ― Beyonce’s surprise album has sold surprisingly well: Her fifth solo effort sold more than 600,000 units in its first three days, setting a record for first-week domestic digital sales.Beyonce’s self-titled album was released early Friday morning exclusively on iTunes unbeknownst to the public. Apple said Monday that the album sold 617,213 in its U.S. iTunes Store. It sold 828,773 internationally.“You have to be innovative. The Internet has changed the game. You’ve got to look at

PerformanceDec. 17, 2013

Changing the mindset of K-pop dance

Choreographer Hong Young-joo was certainly happy when audition show “Dancing 9” came out. While not involved with the show, she said she was glad to see Korea looking at dance not as something difficult, but as something that people can truly enjoy.“The reason why I wanted to teach kids is not for the sake of teaching kids, but to show them that it’s fun,” she said in an interview with The Korea Herald on Dec. 6. There are differences between the Western and Korean students in her studio, she po

Dec. 17, 2013

Girls’ Generation takes the top spot on Oricon weekly

Girls’ Generation’s latest full Japanese studio album titled “Love & Peace” released on Dec. 11 not only topped the Oricon Daily Album Chart upon its release, but has ranked No. 1 on this week’s Oricon’s Weekly Album Chart, making the group the first Korean girl group to have two albums top the weekly chart. SNSD had previously topped the Oricon ― Japan’s leading music ranking chart ― Weekly Album Chart two years ago with their eponymous album. “Love & Peace” marks the third Japanese studio albu

PerformanceDec. 17, 2013

Park Bom and Lee Hi collaborate on holiday single

Park Bom of 2NE1 and young K-pop rookie starlet Lee Hi have combined vocal forces to take on Mariah Carey’s holiday classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” The duo unit dubbed “BOM&HI” is releasing the digital single as the first of a series of collaborative projects titled “YG x SAMSUNG MUSIC.” The Christmas track was pre-released at midnight Tuesday on Samsung Music and will be officially released to other local digital music sites on Friday. “Although it is a very famous song, I think peop

Dec. 17, 2013

Zion.T to unveil ‘trot dub’ single

The rising hip-hop star Zion.T, with one of the most distinctive voices in the industry, has announced that he will be releasing a new mini-album titled “Mirror Ball,” which will feature a fusion of traditional Korean trot-style sound with dubstep in a single titled “Miss Kim.” The album’s lead track “Miss Kim” is said to incorporate the old-time style of Korean trot music while giving it a modern-day hip-hop twist. The teaser video for the track shows black and white footage of mob-like charact

Dec. 17, 2013

Public donates to parents who stole to feed their baby

After a news report about a poor young couple caught stealing in a large store in order to feed their 3-year-old toddler and scrape a living, many people from all walks of life are sending donations. A 33-year-old husband and his 26-year-old wife, who have struggled to survive after losing their jobs and becoming credit delinquents, wrote letters of gratitude to their kind-hearted donors. They were booked without detention on Dec. 9 on charges of stealing a total of 3.5 million won worth of good

PeopleDec. 17, 2013

Singapore Airlines holds event for charter flights

Singapore Airlines held a fashion show in Busan on Sunday to commemorate its non-scheduled flights from Busan to Singapore. The show was staged twice in the Gwangbok branch of Lotte Department Store, with a photo session in between. The air carrier has operated non-scheduled flights on the route every year since 2011. This year, it will operate a total of seven charter flights departing from Busan from Dec. 21 to Jan. 15.By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)

PeopleDec. 17, 2013

Paul Chung to head LG Arts Center

Paul Chung has been appointed as the new head of the LG Arts Center as of Monday, the center announced Monday. The 48-year-old Chung is the arts center’s third director. The newly appointed head has been with LG Electronics since 1990, working his way up through the ranks as the former chief of the international public relations department as well as the LG brand management team. Chung received his undergraduate degree at Yonsei University in Seoul and his MBA at Lehigh University in Pennsylvani

PeopleDec. 16, 2013

Busker Busker leader to wed next year

Jang Beom-jun, leader of alternative band Busker Busker, will be getting married next year to actress Song Ji-su, according to an official statement released by Chungchun Music. The statement also revealed that the couple is expecting a child and will wed sometime this coming spring. The 24-year-old Jang originally intended to serve in the military starting next year but has decided to postpone his entry after hearing about his girlfriend’s pregnancy.Busker Busker’s agency went on to announce th

PeopleDec. 16, 2013

Korean-Americans donate winter coats in Chicago

A group of Korean-Americans donated winter coats to those in need in Chicago on Sunday.The Korean American Friendship Network, which mostly consists of Korean-Americans living in Chicago, held a winter coat donation event in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, a low-income community located in the southwest part of the city.The ceremony was attended by Chicago Mayor Rahn Emanuel, Korean consul-general in Chicago Kim Sang-il, and members of the Chicago City Council.The network has donated about 1

PeopleDec. 16, 2013