Asia

The Grammy-winning Korean Soprano Sumi Jo, singing “peace” in Berlin

Performing in front of people who share the same feeling

May 24th, 2019
Yerang Jang, News from Berlin
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"The geopolitical situation on the Korean Peninsula isn't positive these days," Jo said. "I think it is necessary for artists to play a small role in solving problems that politics have failed to work out."

Soprano Sumi Jo, one of the brightest stars in Korea's classical music scene, who is probably used to performing in lustrous grand opera houses or stately concert halls packed with well-dressed attendees, has chosen to perform from a small, humble podium set up in a garden in Berlin on the night of May 24, 2019. Only a piano was next to her, instead of a full-scale orchestra, while some 600 spectators casually watched.

H.E. Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Bum Goo Jong who was also present, it was a gala performance for the opening ceremony of the exhibition of two South Korean artists, Han Seok-hyun and Kim Seung-hwoe, in front of St. Matthew's Church. The exhibition titled "The Third Country" is a “garden in motion” which aims to collect flowers and plants from both South and North Korea and grow them together in different places in Europe and Korea. This garden represents a flora that transcends the heavily fortified border on the Korean Peninsula.

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News from Berlin