Yeowoorak Festival celebrates 15th edition with traditional Korean music in central Seoul

The 15th edition of the Yeowoorak Festival will be held from July 4 to 27 at the National Theater of Korea in Jung District, central Seoul.

Yanggeum (hammered dulcimer) musician Yoon Eun-hwa puts on a short performance for reporters during a press conference for the 15th Yeowoorak Festival at the National Theater of Korea in central Seoul on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

The 15th edition of the Yeowoorak Festival will be held from July 4 to 27 at the National Theater of Korea in Jung District, central Seoul.

The annual music festival, which showcases both pure and crossover gugak (traditional Korean music) concerts, will be held under the theme “Here is our music,” featuring performances by 12 musicians.

The performances will include the geomungo (traditional Korean six-string zither), gayageum (12-string zither), Gyeonggi minyo (folk songs from the Gyeonggi region) and talchum (mask dance).

They will take place across the National Theater of Korea’s Haeoreum Grand Theater, Daloreum Theater and Haneul Round Theater.

The geomungo musician, Park Woo-jae, is the artistic director, and artist May Kim has taken the helm of the festival’s visuals and art.

This year, the festival will shed light on individual artists, in contrast to previous editions where participating artists usually collaborated in teams.

Over the past 15 years, the festival has garnered 77,000 audience members.

“The National Theater of Korea has been continuously giving our traditional culture a modern reinterpretation,” Park In-gun, CEO of the National Theater of Korea, said during a press conference on Wednesday.

“We even have 15-year-old concertgoers, who are probably in high school. Our festival has become popular among gugak enthusiasts thanks to the public’s attention.”

Visit the National Theater of Korea’s website for ticket information.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]