Korean Quarterly

Author Heinz Insu Fenkl to speak about novel Skull Water at Korea Society online event
2023-02-07 17:30 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
Heinz Insu Fenkl, author of the just-published novel Skull Water, will speak in a free live event sponsored by the Korea Society, to be held February 7, 5:30 p.m. CST (6:30 EST).
Fenkl’s novel is based in his life experiences as a half-German, half-Korean kid growing up in 1970s Korea, dealing with identity and displacement, and his Korean family, especially his Big Uncle, a geomancer and scholar whose life was uprooted by war. Through Big Uncle, Insu is drawn to the folktales, legends, Buddhist thought, and supernatural qualities of Korean culture. He views his life in South Korea through this lens, as the homeland rapidly transforms into a more modern and Westernized country.
Fenkl is the author of the novel Memories of My Ghost Brother, a PEN/Hemingway Award finalist and a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. He is known internationally for his collection of Korean folktales and translations of classic Buddhist texts.
He is also a long-time regular contributor to Korean Quarterly of writings about Korean literature, and his own translations of North Korean serial comics (manhwa), including The Crystal Key.

Author David Mura to speak about new book
2023-02-08 19:00 - 20:30 | Minnesota Humanities Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, St. Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Author David Mura will speak in a free book launch event of his new book The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself: Racial Myths and Our American Narratives on Wednesday, February 8, 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Minnesota Humanities Center in St. Paul.
The book, available after January 31 from the University of Minnesota Press, uncovers pernicious narratives white people have created to justify white supremacy and sustain racist oppression.
From the country’s founding through the summer of Black Lives Matter in 2020, Mura unmasks how white stories about race attempt to erase the brutality of the past and underpin systemic racism in the present. The author explains racial narratives to dissolve the myth of whiteness and acknowledge the experiences of Black Americans.
Following a reading, best-selling author Alexs Pate will join Mura for a discussion on race, history, and education. A book signing will follow the talk. The event is open to the public and will include a moderated discussion with the author.
The Minnesota Humanities Center will offer a limited number of complimentary copies to event attendees and the University of Minnesota Press will have additional copies for purchase. The event is co-sponsored by the two organizations, and is part of the Minnesota Humanities Center’s Minnesota Writers Series, which amplifies the works of Minnesota authors about the human experience.

Korean Adoptees of Chicago monthly dinner event set
2023-02-25 18:30 - 21:30 | Sun Wah BBQ, 5039 N Broadway, Chicago, IL, 60640, United States
Korean Adoptees of Chicago (KAtCH) will hold its February dinner at Sun Wah BBQ, 5039 N. Broadway, Chicago, February 25, 6:30 p.m. The event is for Korean adoptees and their friends and family. Registration is required; seating is limited. For more information or for last-minute reservations or cancellation, please email: ka**@********go.com.
KAtCH exists to represent and serve Korean adoptees of the Chicago area, and to foster positive relationships in the larger AAPI community It provides monthly social events, and also cultural events, collaborations with other Korean American organizations, and opportunities for mentoring of younger transnational adoptees.

Webinar on Korean peace open for registration
2023-03-01 14:00 - 15:30
Laying Out a Roadmap for Peace in Korea in 2023 is the title of a free online webinar to be held at 2 p.m. (CST) Wednesday, March 1.
New Korea peace legislation will be re-introduced in Congress on that day by Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA). The discussion at the event will center around the political context and geopolitical dynamics in Korea and the U.S., how the new Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act provides a roadmap toward peace, and opportunities for action.
Jae-Jung Suh, an expert in U.S.-Korea relations and international security, and professor of politics and international studies at the International Christian University (Tokyo, Japan) will speak, along with Christine Ahn, peace activist, executive director and co-founder of Women Cross DMZ. Colleen Moore, advocacy director for Women Cross DMZ will also speak.
Registration for the event is at the attached link.
For more about the Korean peace advocacy campaign of Women Cross DMZ, please see the website:www.womencrossdmz.org

Adoptee Hub to hold fifth year anniversary and fundraiser event
2023-04-15 16:30 - 20:30 | Roseville Center Ice Arena, 2661 Civic Center Drive, Roseville, MN, 55113, United States
Adoptee Hub will hold its fifth anniversary and fundraiser April 15, 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Roseville Center Banquet Hall.
The keynote speaker for the event will be Korean adoptee Rebecca Kimmel of Washington (state), whose birth family search resulted in her discovery that her birth records had been falsified. Her story was reported in Korean media. In searching for the wrong birth father, she was able to help reunite one birth father with his twin birth daughters who had been adopted.
In addition to Rebecca Kimmel’s talk and discussion to follow, the event will include a Korean dinner, silent auction and door prizes.
An early bird registration ($45) is available now until March 30. Regular price tickets ($55) will be available April 1 through 14. Day of event tickets are $65.
Proceeds from the event will go toward Adoptee Hub’s adoption registry, which will bring Korean adoptees and their birth parents together through confidential matching.

Lotus Flower Lantern-Making for Buddha's Birthday
2023-05-06 13:00 - 17:00 | 34 13th Avenue NE, 34 13th Avenue NE, Minneapolis, MN, 55413, United States
Jangmi Arts will hold a workshop on lotus flower lantern-making, a traditional lantern used for worship and for parades on Buddha’s birthday in Korea. The workshop will be held Saturday, May 6, in two sessions: 1 to 3 p.m. and 3 to 5 p.m. The event will be held at 34 13th Ave. NE, Minneapolis.
Cost is $25 per person, which covers all materials, plus snacks and beverages.
Jangmi Arts is a Twin Cities organization offering Korean dance and drumming for all ages. There is a Facebook invite and pre-registration, and general information at the website: www.jangmiarts.com.

Ariana Kim and Chamber Music Society of Minnesota to perform Maksimal
2023-05-07 16:00 - 18:00 | Sundin Music Hall, 1531 Hewitt Avenue, St. Paul, MN, 55104, United States
The Chamber Music Society of Minnesota (CMSM) violinist and artistic co-director Ariana Kim, along with pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute, will perform the Minnesota premiere of Maksimal for violin and piano at its next concert on May 7. A modern work by American composer David Tempkin, Maksimal was inspired by the music of Beethoven. Tempkin is known for crafting works filled with rich details and visceral beauty. The concert will be held at the Sundin Music Hall on the campus of Hamline University.
The program will also feature the E-flat Piano Quintet by Robert Schumann, with Kim on violin and Jocumbaviciute on piano, joined by Young-Nam Kim (violin), Sally Chisholm (viola), and Jane Cords O’Hara (cello).
Since its founding some 20 years ago, the CMSM has held superb chamber music events, featuring world-renowned guests and Minnesota’s finest artists. In addition to its subscription concerts, the CMSM presents master classes and workshops by distinguished guest artists. Its annual Northern Lights Chamber Music Institute, the educational arm of the CMSM, convenes at Camp Vermillion in Cook, Minnesota, each August.
Tickets for the May 7 are $25 ($20 senior and $15 student) and are available at the link above.

Crossings screening to be held in San Francisco
2023-05-13 17:30 - 19:00 | Great Star Theater, 633 Jackson St., San Francisco, MN, 94133, United States
The documentary film Crossings will have a San Francisco premiere at the film festival CAAMFest 2023 on May 13, 5:30 p.m. at The Great Star Theater, located in Chinatown.
Crossings, by award-winning documentary filmmaker Deann Borshay Liem, describes the journey of Women Cross DMZ, a group of international women peacemakers who crossed the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas in May 2015 as an act of defiant peacemaking. The film also details the goals of the international movement to formally end the Korean War that preceded and followed this event.
Liem’s films (including a documentary film on the history of Korean adoption Geographies of Kinship) cover many aspects of Korean history and the relationship between the two Koreas, and of Korean Americans with their country of origin.
The story of Women Cross DMZ is punctuated by newsreels and historic accounts of the treacherous roller-coaster ride of U.S.-North Korean relations over the last 70 years since the Korean War was ended with an armistice. The film describes how the women peacemakers, including renowned activists Christine Ahn and Gloria Steinem, tackle political hurdles, bureaucracy and widespread controversy to forge a path towards solidarity and peace.
Filmmaker Deann Borshay Liem and activist Christine Ahn are expected to attend for a post-screening Q and A. CAAMFest, sponsored by the Center for Asian American Media, is one of the nation’s largest and enduring showcases for Asian and Asian American films. Tickets are $15 ($13 senior) and available at the link.

History scholar to present on history of Gwangju Uprising on 43rd anniversary
2023-05-18 19:00 - 20:30
Korean history researcher Hayana Kim will speak in a free virtual event May 18 (7 p.m. CST) on the legacy of democracy in South Korea, and in honor of the 43rd anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, a pivotal moment in South Korea’s struggle to reject a military dictatorship and re-establish democratic rule. The uprising resulted in hundreds of deaths of demonstrators after the military was sent into the city of Gwangju to violently put down the pro-democracy demonstrations.
The presentation, entitled Revolutionaries of the 5.18 Gwangju Uprising: Ordinary People’s Struggle for Democracy, is sponsored by the HANA Center of Chicago, and the NAKASEC Network. Kim’s presentation will be followed by a Q and A session, and a response by Korean American youth. The event will be held in English and Korean, with interpretation in both languages.
Please see the link for registration and more information.

Korean hanji papercraft class to be held
2023-05-20 13:00 - 16:00 | Marine Mills Folk School, 550 Pine St., Marine-on-St. Croix, MN, 55047, United States
The Hanji Crew, two women skilled in the Korean design craft of mulberry paper, or hanji, will hold a two-day class at the Marine Mills Folk School, located in Marine on the St. Croix, on Saturday, May 20 and Sunday, May 21, from 1 to 4 p.m. on both days.
Participants will create a Korean-style decorated six-sided box. Hanji has been used for more than a thousand years to make decorative and practical products in two or three dimensions. The paper’s strength makes it ideal for paper-cutting, calligraphy and painting. The box will be finished at the end of the first day’s class, will dry overnight, and on the second day, participants will decorate and finish their boxes.
Adults and crafty teens and tweens can all make the box; no experience is required. Any participant younger than 15 will need to be supervised by an adult. Tuition is $50 and the materials fee is $15, for a total of $65.

Ung Lim Lee to exhibit landscape art in St. Paul
2023-06-09 18:00 - 20:00 | Xia Gallery and Cafe, 422 University Ave., St. Paul, MN, 55103, United States
Mountains and Trees, an exhibit of drawn and painted landscapes by Twin Cities artist Ung Lim Lee, will premiere at Xia Gallery in St. Paul with an opening reception to be held Friday, June 9, at 6 p.m.
Lee, age 90, was born in what is now North Korea. His art school education was interrupted when he had to travel to South Korea during the Korean War. After immigrating to the U.S. as a young adult, he had a long career as an advertising illustrator, but he always worked on his own drawing and painting.
After moving from New Jersey to Minnesota in 2017 to be with family, he spent the pandemic years developing his art, and has completed hundreds of works. Lee often uses unconventional materials and techniques such as permanent markers on dry-erase board, paint on frosted glass, or pen on sheets of rubber to portray his own style of detailed representational art. He often paints scenes from his homeland, and the Diamond Mountains (Kumgang-san) is a favorite motif.
Reservations for free tickets are encouraged (see link). Xia Gallery supports local Asian American and BIPOC artists and makers. More information is at the gallery’s website.

Arirang Lions to hold annual Chicago picnic for adoptees
2023-06-10 | Blue Star Memorial Woods, 701 E. Lake St., Glenview, IL, 60025, United States
The Arirang Lions Club of Chicago will hold its annual picnic for adoptees and their families on Saturday, June 10. The picnic will be held at Blue Star Memorial Woods, 701 E. Lake Ave., Glenview, Illinois. There is no charge, but a freewill offering is accepted.
The picnic is in its 43rd year, and the Lions offer Korean food and family-friendly cultural activities. RSVP is requested. For reservations and more information, please get in touch at ch*********************@***il.com

Jangmi Arts to hold spring fundraiser with free performance
2023-06-11 11:30 - 15:30 | White Bear Lake High School South Campus, 3551 McKnight Rd. N., White Bear Lake, MN, 55110, United States
Jamgmi Arts, a Korean traditional dance and drumming school, will hold its spring performance and fundraiser Sunday, June 11. A Korean Market, with Korean-related crafts and products, will be heild 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. A free student recital will begin at 1:30.
The event will be held at the White Bear Lake High School South Campus building, located at 3551 McKnight Road N., White Bear Lake, 55110.

Summer recital features marimba and Korean drum
2023-06-25 15:00 - 16:30 | Studio Z, 275 East Fourth Street, Suite 200, St. Paul, MN, 55101, United States
Twin Cities percussionist Eri Isomura and Richardson Handjaja Kilis, who plays Korean traditional drums, will team up for an original duo piece Chilchae for Janggu and Marimba as part of Isomura’s Summer Marimba Recital to be held at Studio Z in St. Paul on Sunday, June 25.
Also in the program is Isomura’s first composition featuring marimba and electronics, and selections from her new solo percussion album 12 Months in Minnesota.
Isomura is a freelance performer and piano instructor who plays in orchestras, recitals, choirs, musicals and recording projects locally. She is a founding member of the Wave Chamber Collective and a member of the Heartland Musical Ensemble. Kilis is a performer in the Twin Cities Korean traditional drum troupe Shinparam.
The recital will be held at 3 p.m. Studio Z is located at 275 4th St, Ste. 200, St. Paul. The event is free, with a suggested donation of $20.

IKAA to hold global adoptee gathering in Seoul
2023-07-10 - 2023-07-16
Rethinking What’s Possible is the theme of a gathering of the International Korean Adoptee Association, to be held July 10 through 16 in Seoul.

The IKAA Gathering, held every three years, is an international meeting of Korean adoptees from more than 15 countries. Its sessions highlight adoptee stories and facilitate connections and understanding.

The theme Rethinking What’s Possible describes a community looking toward the future as international adoption is approaching a 70-year mark, and Korean adoptee-led organizations have been an global influence on the adoption community for more than 35 years.. Sessions will discuss the grassroots community building, post-adoption services, and advocacy pioneered by adoptee voices.
In addition to fun activities, and newcomer welcome and orientation sessions for newcomers to Seoul, the conference will also feature the Sixth International Symposium on Adoption Studies (IKAS) at which adoption researchers will present recent findings.
The meeting will be held at COEX (now known as the Starfield COEX Mall), a shopping mall, and facility for exhibition halls and convention spaces in one location in Seoul’s Gangnam district. Events will be held at other local venues also.

Early registration is $260 for adults through May 14. See website for further housing and registration information.

Three-day event with conference set to advocate for Korea peace agreement
2023-07-26 - 2023-07-28
To mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice which halted the combat of the Korean War, a three-day event will be held in July in Washington DC to push for a peace agreement to formally end the Korean War.
The event, dubbed Korea Peace Action: National Mobilization to End the Korean War will take place July 26-28, 2023. The organizers include peace activists, humanitarian aid organizations, and groups representing veterans, faith traditions, and Korean American communities.
The activities will include a Congressional media briefing, a community grief ceremony, a rally in front of the White House, and a march to the Korean War Veterans Memorial for an interfaith candlelight vigil.
On Friday, July 28, there will be a conference at George Washington University, entitled “Prospects and Challenges for a Peace Agreement,” featuring a panel with a keynote speech by eminent Korea historian Bruce Cumings on the human costs of unending war.
Registration is required due to space limitations, but there is no fee. For more information: www.koreapeaceaction.org

Korean film retrospective series at Lincoln Center
2023-09-01 - 2023-09-17 | Lincoln Center, 150 West 65th Street, New York, NY, 10023, United States
A retrospective series of Korean films, entitled Korean Cinema’s Golden Decade: The 1960s will be presented from September 1 through 17 at Lincoln Center, New York.
The series features some of the best-known films of the era from many genres: melodramas and period epics to action, horror, war, and giant monster movies. Some of the famous directors whose films will be screened include Sang-ok Shin, Hyun-mok Yu, Soo-yong Kim and Man-hee Lee. These mid-century auteurs popularized and reinvented many of the genres as the nation’s film industry launched in the aftermath of the Korean War.
Tickets are $17 for the general public, and $14 student/senior and $12 members.
For more information, along with a trailer, see the website at the attached link

Korean drumming and dinner event held by KAM Center
2023-09-16 16:00 - 18:00 | Korean Service Center, 2417 Larpenteur Avenue West, St. Paul, MN, 55113, United States
The Korean Adoptees Ministry will hold a free Korean cultural event in September with a samulnori performance by Sejong Academy’s Korean drum ensemble, and a Korean dinner.
Jiwhi Eo, the Sejong Academy Upper School music teacher, directs the drum ensemble, and will also teach a class for participants on sogo (a small handheld drum often used for marching or dancing in Korean traditional percussion performances).
The event, to be held Saturday, September 16, 4 to 6 p.m., is family-friendly and targeted to Korean adoptees and their families. Location is the Korean Service Center, 2417 Larpenteur Avenue West, Lauderdale. For planning purposes, please register by emailing KAM Center at: ka******@***il.com

Buddhist leader and peace activist Pomnyun Sunim to speak
2023-09-19 19:00 - 20:30 | Crystal Community Center, 4800 Douglas Drive N., Crystal, MN, 55429, United States
A free event entitled Casual Conversation with Ven. Pomnyun Sunim will be held at the Crystal Community Center on Tuesday, September 19 at 7 p.m.

Ven. Pomnyun Sunim (“Ven.” is an abbreviation for “venerable” and sunim is the Korean form of address for a monk) is one of the most influential religious leaders in South Korea, a peace activist, and a leader of engaged Buddhism, which applies Buddhist teachings to solving modern issues. He is the recipient of the 2002 Ramon Magsaysay Award and 2020 Niwano Peace Prize.

Pomnyun Sunim is the founder of the Jungto Society, a Buddhist community of practice which began in Korea in 1988, and how has several communities in foreign countries, including three in the U.S.

The talk will be held in a Q&A format, which will allow audience members to ask questions on topics of their choice. The format allows Pomnyun Sunim to answer in a way that helps the questioners shift their perspectives and begin to find their own answers to life’s challenges.

Attendees of this free event must register with an RSVP at the following link: bit.ly/talk919 The Crystal Community Center is located at 4800 Douglas Dr. N., Crystal, MN 55429.

Filmmaker to discuss his project to interview Korean adoptees
2023-10-25 13:00 - 14:30
The filmmaker of the documentary film project Side By Side Glenn Morey, who did a video oral history project about Korean adoptees in the U.S. and Europe “side by side” with adult Korean nationals who grew up in orphanages and were never adopted, will speak as part of an online panel discussion called Reframe and Refresh, by New Day Films. The topic will be “Exploring Global Connections through Korean Adoptees and Living in China.”
The panel will be moderated by Korean adoptee filmmaker Deann Borshay Liem (Geographies of Kinship). In addition to Morey (a Korean adoptee,) 0ther panelists will include Charles Abelman (English Hustle) and Joseph W. Ho, associate professor of history at Albion College.
The event will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, October 25 at 1 p.m. CDT, 2 p.m. EDT. It is free, but RSVP is required at the link.

Chosen documentary film to be screened at Korea Society
2023-11-02 19:00 - 21:00 | Korea Society, 350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor New York, NY 10017, New York, NY, 10023, United States
The documentary Chosen, about five Korean American candidates who ran for Congress in 2020, will be screened at the Korea Society in New York City, on Thursday, November 2, at 7 p.m. EDT. The screening will be followed by a director talk and interview afterward.
The film by Joseph Juhn follows five Korean American candidates who have vastly diverse backgrounds and competing political views as they each navigate their run for the U.S. Congress.
The film focuses on David Kim, an underdog candidate with limited financial resources, who ran for a Congressional seat in one of the poorest districts of Los Angeles during the pandemic. Korean Quarterly interviewed Juhn about his film in 2022 (see this link).
Independent filmmaker/director Joseph Juhn will join the for an audience Q&A session after the film facilitated by Chelsie Alexandre of the Korea Society. This event is free, but a donation of $20 to the filmmaker is encouraged.

Adoptee Hub to hold Self-Care Workshop for Korean adoptee adults
2023-11-04 08:45 - 17:00 | Coffman Memorial Union, 300 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, United States
Adoptee Hub will hold a cultural identity and self-care workshop targeted to adult Korean adoptees (age 18 and older) to be held Saturday, November 4.
The all-day event will feature four different sessions. Topics will include: yoga and meditation; massage therapy; the traditional Korean tea ceremony; essential Korean language learning; cooking classes for making kimbap (rice and vegetables rolled in seaweed) and Korea’s national dish, kimchi; self-defense; and informational sessions on birth search and visiting Korea.
There will be breakout rooms (12 people per room), and participants are encouraged to discuss, share experiences, be curious, and build resilience and self-awareness. All discussion is confidential and will be conducted in a safe, nonjudgmental space.
Participants will receive a free t-shirt and other items depending upon the session attended. A continental breakfast and a Korean-inspired lunch are included.

Local playwright Sun Mee Chomet to stage her one-woman play in D.C.
2024-01-04 00:00 - 2024-01-14 00:00 | Theater J, 1529 16th St. NW, Washington, DC, DC, 20036, United States
Twin Cities actor Sun Mee Chomet will perform her one-woman play How to Be a Korean Woman, at Theater J in Washington D.C., from January 4 through 14.

How to Be a Korean Woman is part-commentary and part-satire on the experiences of a Korean American adoptee woman who returns to Korea for the first time, including all the high expectations she has of visiting Korea, and the high expectations that Koreans, particularly other Korean women, have about her. It is also a cautionary tale, told with humor, about making assumptions about others’ cultures and experiences, and a commentary about the complexity of being a Korean adoptee.

Theater J will stage two other one-person plays along with Chomet’s play in a series entitled Here I Am: A Triptych of Tour-de-Force Performances. The other two plays are: Moses, by Michelle Lowe; and See You Tomorrow by Iris Bahr. Chomet was recently interviewed by The Washington Post about the three-play series.

Performance times and costs are varied, please consult the Theater J website for further information.

Theater Mu to host cabaret for Lunar New Year
2024-02-03 19:00 - 21:00 | North Garden Theater, 929 West Seventh Street, St. Paul, MN, 55102, United States
The Twin Cities Asian American theater organization Theater Mu will host a cabaret for Lunar New Year February 3 at the North Garden Theater in St. Paul.
The Theater Mu 2024 Lunar New Year Cabaret is an annual fundraising event. This year’s cabaret will feature lion dancing, live music, comedy and merriment, and some complimentary desserts. Veteran Mu actors and performers who are new to Mu will perform for the show. There are a limited number of VIP tickets that will include a catered, pre-show dinner.
Tickets are available at the link. NOTE: Theater Mu’s “pay as you are” pricing offers modified pricing for those who cannot afford it, to a minimum of $30/ticket; or $60 market value per ticket for general admission (VIP tickets cost $100).

Korean-themed concert to be held at Northwestern University
2024-02-04 14:00 - 18:00 | Galvin Recital Hall, 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston,, IL, 60208, United States
The Sejong Cultural Society will hold a concert of Korean-themed music on Sunday, February 4 at 2 p.m. with a 4 p.m. reception, at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. The concert will be comprised of required pieces used in the Society’s annual music competition.
The Society has commissioned numerous composers to craft pieces with Korean themes, and it has collected more than 150 pieces over the two decades since its founding. The concert is a tribute to the contributions of composers, past competition participants, their teachers and families, and to the supporters of the organization.
The performers are the past winners of the Sejong Music Competition, with two special guests: Kyung Sun Lee, a violin professor at Indiana University, and Sojung Hong, a piano professor at Judson University. The keynote speaker will be David Ludwig, Dean of the Julliard School of Music in New York City.
The Sejong Cultural Society, a non-profit organization in Chicago, fosters awareness and understanding of Korea’s cultural heritage in the U.S. through outreach to youth and young adults through creative and fine arts. It holds musical composition and musical performance contests annually, as well as annual Korean poetry (sijo) classes and competitions, and an annual essay writing contest.
Tickets are $30 (students $10). Location is the Galvin Recital Hall, 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston, Illinois.

Jangmi Arts to hold Seollal Lunar New Year Celebration
2024-02-10 11:00 - 15:00 | White Bear Lake High School South Campus, 3551 McKnight Rd. N., White Bear Lake, MN, 55110, United States
JangMi Arts, a school for Korean dance and drumming in the Twin Cities, will hold its annual Seollal (Lunar New Year) Celebration on Saturday, February 10, with activities from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The celebration will include a Korean traditional marketplace with Korean American organization info tables, a lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with the traditional ddukguk (rice cake soup), served for Lunar New Year in Korea (there is a charge for the lunch). A free performance will take place at 1 p.m. by students of JangMi Arts and students of Lee’s Champion Taekwondo.
The event will take place at White Bear High School South Campus. A ticket link will be added to the JangMi Arts Facebook event listing soon.

HANA Center to celebrate Year of the Blue Dragon
2024-02-10 11:00 - 15:00 | Hana Center, 4300 North California Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60618, United States
HANA Center in Chicago will hold a Lunar New Year celebration for the Year of the Blue Dragon on Saturday, February 10, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the center, located at 4300 N. California Ave.
The event will include a poongmulnori (traditional drumming) performance, with opportunities to try the traditional drums, New Year blessings, an intergenerational saebae (traditional formal bow) during which elders receive bows from the younger generation; games such as yutnori and jaegi-chagi: and a hanbok photo shoot where participants can pose in their traditional hanbok (or other national costume of the participant’s choice).
To register, please see the link: bit.ly/2024HANALNYPartyRSVP and RSVP by February 7.

Free webinar on gendered impact of the Korean War
2024-03-06 18:00 - 19:30
Free webinar on gendered impact of the Korean War
A webinar in observance of International Women’s Day entitled The Gendered Impact of the Korean War; Past, Present and Future will be held Wednesday, March 6 at 6 p.m. (CST). The event will include two feminist scholar-activists: Suzy Kim, professor of Korean history at Rutgers University; and Na-Young Lee, professor at Chung-Ang University (Seoul) and board chair of the Korean Council for the Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.
Kim will provide a historical account of how North Korean and international women intervened during the Korean War. Lee will discuss the impact of the ongoing state of unresolved war on South Korean women, including militarized sexual violence, and efforts underway to hold the South Korean government and U.S. military accountable. Moderator for the event is Ji-Yeon Yuh, a board member at Women Cross DMZ and professor at Northwestern University, Chicago.
The Korean War is considered unresolved because no peace treaty hs been negotiated between the parties in the war. The war is still technically suspended by a 1953 armistice agreement. The result is that U.S. troops are still stationed in South Korea, and South Korean and U.S. troops are engaged in watching the southern border of the DMZ. North Koreans stake out the northern border of the DMZ. War-like incidents that cost human lives have frequently occurred between the troops on the DMZ and in disputed territorial waters off the western coast of North Korea since the armistice was signed
Registration is free and available at the attached link.

Percussionist/composer Jin Hi Kim to play two dates in Minnesota/Wisconsin
2024-03-14 19:30 - 21:30 | Abbot Concert Hall, 420 E Cascade Ave., River Falls, WI, 54022, United States
Korean percussionist and composer Jin Hi Kim will perform an original work, with some local musical help, in two March performances: the first in River Falls, Wisconsin and the second in St. Paul.
The first concert of Kim’s commissioned work Ritual for the Earth 2024 will take place at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UWRF) campus on March 14, 7:30 p.m. The concert will be held at the Abbott Concert Hall, and is free and open to the public. This concert is part of an annual Commissioned Composer event. Kim is this year’s guest commissioned composer and is doing some guest artist lectures and master classes with students.
The concert will include UWRF students playing a variety of instruments, including handmade percussion instruments made from natural materials such as seashells, gourds, bamboo, wood and metal. Members of Shinparam, a Twin Cities-based traditional Korean percussion ensemble, will provide some Korean rhythms that will be woven into the piece.
In addition, Kim’s new commissioned composition, Vocalization in Motion, for chorus and two percussionists, will be world-premiered at the UWRF concert.
More information on this concert and on the composer may be found at the attached link.
The second concert, entitled Living Sounds: Music of Jin Hi Kim will take place at Zeitgeist Studio in downtown St. Paul, on Saturday, March 16, 7 p.m. The concert will include works by Kim, including NORI II for clarinet, saxophone, and two percussionists (saxophonist David Milne as guest artist), and Ritual for the Earth featuring Zeitgeist, Kim, samulnori ensemble Shinparam, and other musicians. Rounding out the program, Zeitgeist and Kim will join forces in an improvisation.
Also featured on the program will be the premiere of a newly-created work, World Sanjo, by Zeitgeist member Pat O’Keefe, with O’Keefe on clarinet and guest artist Peter O’Gorman on drumset.
Kim’s work has been recognized nationally and internationally. She is known as a pioneer for introducing komungo (also spelled geomungo, a large traditional Korean stringed instrument) into the American contemporary music scene. She has also done extensive solo performances on the world’s only electric komungo with live interactive computer programs in several large-scale multimedia performance pieces such as Ghost Komungobot, Digital Buddha, and Touching The Moons.
Kim’s Living Tones compositions have been commissioned by the Kronos Quartet, American Composers Orchestra, Festival Nieuwe Muziek for Xenakis Ensemble (The Netherlands), Tan Dun’s New Generation East program for Chamber Music Society for the Lincoln Center, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Meet The Composer U.S. Commission, National Endowment for the Arts and many others.

Jin Hi Kim to perform new music concert at Studio Z in St. Paul
2024-03-16 19:00 - 21:00 | Studio Z, 275 East Fourth Street, Suite 200, St. Paul, MN, 55101, United States
Korean percussionist and composer Jin Hi Kim will perform an original work, with some local musical help, in St. Paul on March 16. The event is the second of two local March performances: the first is at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls on March 14.
The concert, entitled Living Sounds: Music of Jin Hi Kim, will take place at Studio Z, located at 275 East Fourth Street, Suite 200 in downtown St. Paul, on Saturday, March 16, 7 p.m. Tickets are $20; $15 for students and seniors, and are available at the linked website.
The concert will include works by Kim, including NORI II for clarinet, saxophone, and two percussionists (saxophonist David Milne as guest artist), and Ritual for the Earth 2024 featuring Kim on several instruments, the Zeitgeist wind and percussion ensemble, samulnori ensemble Shinparam, and other musicians. Rounding out the program, Zeitgeist and Kim will join forces in an improvisation.
Also featured on the program will be the premiere of a newly-created work, World Sanjo, by Zeitgeist member Pat O’Keefe, with O’Keefe on clarinet and guest artist Peter O’Gorman on drumset.
Kim’s work has been recognized nationally and internationally. She is known as a pioneer for introducing komungo (also spelled geomungo, a large traditional Korean stringed instrument) into the American contemporary music scene. She has also done extensive solo performances on the world’s only electric komungo with live interactive computer programs in several large-scale multimedia performance pieces such as Ghost Komungobot, Digital Buddha, and Touching The Moons.
Kim’s Living Tones compositions have been commissioned by the Kronos Quartet, American Composers Orchestra, Festival Nieuwe Muziek for Xenakis Ensemble (The Netherlands), Tan Dun’s New Generation East program for Chamber Music Society for the Lincoln Center, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Meet The Composer U.S. Commission, National Endowment for the Arts and many others.
The Zeitgeist ensemble, consisting of percussion, piano and woodwinds, commissions new work and brings guest artists for performances in the Twin Cities. Zeitgeist is working with the University of Wisconsin – River Falls, where Kim is the 2024 guest commissioned composer.
