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FEATURE
ACC: World Music Festival
Heo Yoon-jeong
Interview with Artistic Director Heo Yoon-jeong Interview by Jeong Jiyeon
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
August 2020
The Asia Culture Center holds the World Music Festival annually at ACC Plaza; it is among the most important artistic events organized in Gwangju. This year’s August event will be the eleventh for the ACC, but it will be arranged in a different manner due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Gwangju News conducted and presents here a recent interview with the ACC’s art director for the event. — Ed.
Gwangju News (GN): Thank you, Ms. Heo, for providing us with the opportunity for this interview. First, please introduce yourself and tell us how you got involved with the World Music Festival? Heo Yoon-jeong: I currently teach geomungo [거문고, sixstringed Korean musical instrument] as well as creative and impromptu music at the College of Traditional Music of Seoul National University, and I am a leader of the jazz band Black String. Geomungo instrumental music is a national intangible cultural asset (No. 16, Geomungo Sanjo), and I have been working as an art director for the Bukchon Changwoo Theater as a promoter to find young traditional musicians through the Bukchon Woori Music Festival and the Cheon Chamanbyeol Concert. When the ACC World Music Festival was held for the first time in Gwangju, I participated as a performer, and since then, I have performed for the festival several times. After the 10th anniversary celebration last year, I was invited as an artistic director by the Asia Culture Center and the Asian Cultural Institute, which wanted to make new changes.
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GN: Please tell us about the programs that the audience will be able to see at the World Music Festival. Heo Yoon-jeong: This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to make the lineup with only Korean performers since foreign artists wouldn’t be able to enter Korea. As I am a musician who plays traditional compositions and in a position to create new heritage in the 21st century based on this, I thought it would be great for the ACC World Music Festival to be the event to display it. Nowadays, in addition to K-music, K-drama, and K-movies, South Korea has also been highlighted for K-disease control and K-education, so we should make K-world music stand out even more during our festival. It’s the most personal Korean thing! Because it’s global. The essence of K-music, which is based on Korean music, is the festival. GN: Who are some of the musicians and acts participating in this year’s World Music Festival? Heo Yoon-jeong : Up to now, there have been no stage
7/27/2020 12:27:38 PM
