Hwang Byungki

Infobox Korean name
hangul=황병기
hanja=
rr=Hwang Byeonggi
mr=Hwang Pyŏngki

Hwang Byungki (b. Seoul, 1936) is the foremost South Korean player of the "gayageum", a 12-string zither with silk strings. Hwang is also a composer and an authority on Korean "sanjo", a form of traditional Korean instrumental music.cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE2DB133DF930A15757C0A960948260&scp=1&sq=Byung-Ki+Hwang&st=nyt |title= RECITAL: ART OF KAYAGUM FROM KOREA |publisher=New York Times |language=English|accessdate=2008-05-31 |date=April 23, 1986]

In 1951 he began playing "gayageum" at The National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts in Seoul, where he studied under the famous "gayageum" masters Kim Yeong-yun (김영윤), Kim Yun-deok (김윤덕), and Shim Sang-geon (심상건). In 1959 he graduated from Seoul National University School of Law.cite web|url=http://www.kbs.co.kr/1tv/sisa/kookak/vod/1312477_960.html |title=Part 5, 創, The people who open the new window (5편 創 새 창을 여는 사람들) |publisher=KBS |language=Korean|accessdate=2008-05-31] In 1962 he began composing concert and film music using traditional Korean instruments. He presented the premiere performance of Alan Hovhaness's Symphony no. 16 in South Korea in 1963. In 1964 he traveled around the world to Europe, the United States, Japan, and Southeast Asian countries, giving "gayageum" performances in each place.

In 1985 he served as visiting professor of Korean Music at Harvard University.

Since producing his fifth "gayageum" album in 2007, Hwang continues to compose innovative Korean music. Ranging in style from the evocation of traditional genres to avant-garde experimentation, a selection of these pieces is available on a series of five albums. He is an emeritus professor of Korean music at Ewha Womans University. Hwang also teaches a course entitled "The Introduction to Korean Traditional Music" at Yonsei University in Seoul.

Hwang serves on the government's Cultural Properties Preservation Committee, and in 2000 was appointed to the National Academy of Arts.

Discography

*Vol. 1: Chimhyang-moo (침향무; 沈響舞), literally "Dancing Among Incense"
*Vol. 2: The Silk Road (비단길)
*Vol. 3: The Labyrinth (미궁; 迷宮)
*Vol. 4: Spring Snow (춘설; 春雪)
*Vol. 5: Darha Nopigom (달하 노피곰), based on the Baekje gayo (a type of Korean poetry) named, "Jeongeupsa" (정읍사 井邑詞)

References

*cite web|url=http://www.koreasociety.org/arts/performing_arts/portrait_of_hwang_byungki_korean_traditional_music.html |title=Portrait of Hwang Byungki: Korean Traditional Music |publisher=The Korea Society |language=English|accessdate=2008-05-31 |date=2007

External links

* [http://www.bkhwang.com/ Hwang Byungki official site]
* [http://www.donga.com/fbin/output?n=200709050145/ News article about the 5th alubum, Darha Nopigom]