|
Music Band: The Forest
Country of origin: Korea
Day of performance: Saturday, November 17, 2007
Venue: The Music Academy
InKo Centre, in association with The Korea
Foundation, is to present a young, contemporary, traditional
‘crossover’ band, The Forest, in their debut performance in
India at The Hindu November Music Festival.
To be called 'contemporary' and 'traditional'
in the same breath seems a contradiction of sorts. But when the
crossover happens effortlessly, the effect is magical! Founded
in 2001, ‘The Lim’ or ‘The Forest’ became the first Korean band
to skilfully merge the harmonies of traditional Korean music
with the more eclectic sounds of contemporary rhythms.
Calling themselves a ‘traditional crossover
band’, ‘The Forest’ presents music that is refreshingly
original. The natural howl of the traditional wooden instruments
mask the more metallic sounds of modern electronic instruments,
which in turn, lend power to the traditional lyrical
instruments. The result is at once fresh and the experience,
exhilarating. ‘The Forest’ uses Latin American percussion styles
to layer their own music and the result is a presentation that
is light and fresh with the traditional rhythm retained deep
within. Rich and full of variety, ‘The Forest’ presents music
that is at once pensive and reflective, sonorous and harmonic,
light and tripping and dynamic and powerfully layered. There are
pieces like ‘Way Home’ and ‘Rain Runs’ that make one feel as if
one was deep inside a forest while ‘Pan Project 2’ and ‘Prism’
has the feel of listening to a full orchestra.
‘The Forest’ released their first album
‘Morning Scenery’ in May 2002 and they immediately found a
following. To create its unique sound, ‘The Forest’ combines six
traditional instrumentalists with three contemporary musicians.
Rich and varied, their music is produced using a combination of
the acoustic guitar; the bass guitar, the piano, the synthesiser,
the accordion; the fife; traditional Korean wind instruments
such as the Sogeum, Danso, Daegeum, Taepyungso; the two-string
fiddle or the Haegeum; the Korean lute or the Geomungo and the
12-string zither or Gayageum.
In June 2005 ‘The Forest’ was invited to
perform at the opening ceremony of the Singapore Arts Market.
Later that year, in October, it performed at ‘The Concert for
Peace’ at the renowned Lincoln Center in New York. More
recently, in May 2007, the group was invited to perform at the
Kiev Festival and in Ukraine and Azerbaijan. Fresh after a tour
to Istanbul and Ankara in Turkey, ‘The Forest’ will fly to
Chennai for their first-ever performance in India.
|
