'Taegum' Maestro Celebrates 60-Year Musical Career

Traditional woodwind ``taegum¡¯¡¯ virtuoso Lee Saeng-kang will hold a concert in celebration of his 60-year musical career at the Sejong Center for Performing Arts in central Seoul on Wednesday.

Lee will perform with a band of nation-designated Important Intangible Cultural Asset holders. Lee is Important Intangible Cultural Asset No. 45 for the wind instrument.

Among the starring masters, Chong Chol-ho, asset No. 5 for drum player for "`pansori," traditional one-man opera, will first perform with Lee for the event.

Two asset-holding dancers, Chong Chae-man and Im I-jo will follow with their choreographic works in tune with Lee¡¯s taegum. They will each perform a traditional monk¡¯s dance and then a gentry¡¯s dance. Chong Myong-suk, asset No. 97 holder for ¡°salpuri,¡¯¡¯ an exorcism dance, will also be on stage with the taegum master.

Lee will accompany the asset-holding traditional folk song singers including Lee Chun-hi and Park Sun-kum. The repertoire includes ``Kyonggi Minyo,(Kyonggi Province¡¯s folksong)¡¯¡¯ ``Hanobaengnyon,¡¯¡¯ ``Kin Arirang,¡¯¡¯ and ``Chongson Arirang.¡¯¡¯

The concert will also star traditional players from Japan. Two Japanese traditional Shamisen players and a Chinese musician will accompany Lee. (The organizers have not provided the English version of their names.) Other Korean musicians playing Chinese and Korean traditional styles will also join the ensemble. In the final session, Lee will perform a duet with pianist Im Tong-chang in a crossover demonstration.

Born in Tokyo in 1937, Lee first learned to play traditional flute from his father at eight. The father, recognizing Lee¡¯s talent, took him in 1947 to Chonju, South Cholla Province, a famous area for traditional artists at the time. There he learned how to play taegum from master player Han Chu-hwan (1904-1963) for over 15 years.

His solo taegum performance drew wide attention in 1960, when he improvised the traditional woodwind at an international folk music festival held in Paris. The originally unscheduled performance brought taegum into the spotlight as a solo performance instrument. The woodwind has long been regarded as only an accompaniment instrument.

He also pioneered the crossover music genre, playing with Western musical instruments as early as the late 1960s. Then he played Korean and Western popular songs and jazz pieces with taegum. His oeuvre includes more than 400 albums.

"These days I really feel that life is short, art is long," the 67-year-old musician said in a recent interview with the local media.

"From my youth, I kept on playing taegum around the clock, sleeping only four hours a day. Time flies and there are a lot of things to do, and I am always in hurry," the master said.