Neighboring countries Korea, China, and Japan have shared and influenced many aspects of their cultures through the centuries. They have have also managed to retain and develop their own distinct heritages, shaped by their natural environments and national traits. A case in point is the music of these three countries. They may have similar-looking musical instruments, but the melodies and feelings produced by them are vastly different. But in the early 1990s there was an attempt to combine the music of the three nations. It was the establishment of the Orchestra Asia, comprised of China’s Central National Orchestra, Japanese Music Group, and Korea’s Chungang Orchestra for Korean Traditional Music. The tripartite orchestra held its launching ceremony and first concert in Seoul in September 1993. For ten years since then the orchestra traveled among the three countries, inspiring many and bringing the three peoples closer together. This impressive orchestra was led by Park Bum-hoon, currently working as a composer, musician, and conductor. Today’s episode of Sounds of Korea is going to highlight the life and career of this amazing musician.

Chukyeonmu / KBS Traditional Music Orchestra

You’ve just heard Chukyeonmu composed by Park Bum-hoon and performed by the KBS Traditional Music Orchestra. Park was born in Yangpyeong양평, Gyeonggi Province in 1948. He was interested in music from a very young age and played the trumpet in his middle school band. Then he happened to see the performance of a traveling performing arts group, which was led by a popular all-around entertainer, Nam Un-ryong. Nam urged Park to go to Seoul Traditional Arts High School, helping to launch the young Park’s traditional music career. At the time, the faculty of Seoul Traditional Arts High School was comprised of legendary traditional musicians. Master Ji Young-hee of Gyeonggi shamanistic music was Park’s Korean flute teacher, Lee Byung-woo taught him arrangements, and Kim Dong-jin was his western music instructor. During his last year in high school Park was put in charge of the folk arts group that was sent to the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. In the 1960s, when foreign travel was not as common as it is today, experiencing the world and a bigger stage meant a lot to the young musician and helped inspire his future music activities. In college Park majored in western music, not Korean traditional music, and afterwards went to study in Japan. There he was shocked to see Japanese folk instruments played alongside western ones. His experiences in Japan later provided the groundwork for his grand project, the launching of Orchestra Asia.

Korean flute solo “Pusal” / Flute by Park Bum-hoon

The piece you just heard was Gyeonggi sinawi “Pusal” with Park Bum-hoon at the Korean flute piri. Park never seemed to have a moment of inactivity in his life. He got interested in Buddhist music after hearing western-style Buddhist hymns at a temple. His interest in Buddhist music led him to earn a doctorate of philosophy from Dongguk University with a dissertation on Buddhist music, and accept it as a part of Korean traditional music. He was also put in charge of the music for opening ceremonies of the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. Even in the midst of this flurry of activities, he managed to pioneer a new genre of madangnori, a popular form of folk musicals generally performed outdoors. He founded Chungang Orchestra for Korean Traditional Music, the nation’s first private traditional orchestra, and helped establish the National Orchestra of Korea. He also served as president of Chungang University in Seoul, and until recently, as senior presidential aide in education and culture. Now he returns to his calling as conductor. This week’s Sounds of Korea will conclude with “Tapdori,” which was composed by Park Bum-hoon and sung by Kim Young-im.

Tapdori/ Sung by Kim Young-im