Gagok Masterclass with Kang Gwonsun

About the event

As part of the 2025 K-Music Festival, the Korean Cultural Centre UK is delighted to present a special masterclass with Kang Gwonsun — one of Korea’s most exceptional vocalists.

The chameleon-like vocalist Kang Gwonsun, a designated master of Korea’s National Intangible Cultural Heritage, offers UK audiences a stunning preview of how Jeongga, Korea’s traditional court vocal music, is being boldly reimagined ahead of her performance in Dionysus Robot at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, on Friday 14 November.

This session introduces the refined aesthetics of Gagok and Sijo, the principal genres of Jeongga, Korea’s traditional court vocal music. Through live demonstrations and guided participation, attendees will experience the breath, metre, and poetic diction that define Korea’s classical vocal tradition. The session will also offer insight into how traditional music like Jeongga has been reinterpreted in contemporary contexts, exemplified by the innovative sound world of Dionysus Robot.

Yerim Kim (geomungo) of Hilgeum, who made a sold-out debut at the K-Music Festival at the Southbank Centre will perform in collaboration with Kang Gwonsun in this workshop.

A special prize draw will also be held, offering attendees the chance to win four complimentary tickets to Dionysus Robot.

About Kang Gwonsun

• Kang Gwonsun has championed Korean gagok on major stages in Korea and abroad while preserving tradition and cultivating global resonance. Career highlights include: KBS Traditional Music Award (1999); Melbourne International Arts Festival artist (2005); WOMEX Opening Concert (2010); Commendation from Korea’s Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism (2021, National Gugak Center 70th anniversary).

Dionysus Robot

• Experience Dionysus Robot in full on Friday 14 November at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre — a groundbreaking fusion of sound, ritual, and technology. At its heart is the extraordinary vocal artistry of Kang Gwonsun, whose shamanic voice weaves through the work, guiding its rhythm and emotion. In dialogue with electronic soundscapes, traditional Korean instruments, and immersive media art, her voice becomes the human pulse of the performance — shaping pace, tension, and release to create a hypnotic, multi-sensory journey where chaos and control, the sacred and the synthetic collide in breathtaking harmony.