Hyun Seung Hun & Kim So Ra

Stormy folk grooves from Korea

Kim So Ra is a multi-award-winning traditional Korean percussionist, composer and ambassador of traditional Jeongeup music from Honam Province in the south-west of the Korean peninsula. She is one of the most talented and well-known players of the Korean double drum Jang-gu and the Korean dulcimer Yanggeum. The double drum jang-gu with its hourglass-shaped wooden body has been documented as a popular folk music instrument for over a thousand years. It is used both in courtly music and in shamanic music.
The duo Hyun Seung Hun & Kim So Ra is known for its cross-border work with traditional Korean percussion. The two charismatic multi-instrumentalists have pushed the boundaries of traditional Korean percussion and given it a new value with their creative and modern interpretations. For generations, both pungmul (traditional folk music symbolising the playing of wind objects) and shamanic rhythms have been played and passed on in the eight provinces of Korea. With their contemporary reinterpretation of these traditional patterns, the Hyun Seung Hun & Kim So Ra Duo create a kind of communal ritual with the audience and take them on a musical journey that offers exciting experiences, especially for Western ears.