Kim Duk-soo (; born September 23, 1952) is a South Korean

traditional A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

musician and the founding professor of the School of Korean Traditional Arts at the

Korea National University of Arts Korea National University of Arts () is a national university in Seoul, South Korea. Korea National University of Arts was established in 1993 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as the only national university of arts with an aim to ...

. He is best known for creating the ''

samul nori () is a genre of Korean percussion music. It is a modern adaptation of traditional Korean musics, namely the ritual farming music '' nongak'' and Korean shamanic music ''muak'', for the indoor stage. As per its name, ''samul nori'' is perform ...

'' genre of Korean music.

Biography

Kim was born in

Daejeon Daejeon (; ) is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of nearly 1.5 million. Located in a central lowland valley between the Sobaek Mountains and the Geum River, the city is known both as a ...

, South Korea on September 23, 1952. He began his music career at the age of five when joined the

Namsadang The ''namsadang'' () is a Korean itinerant troupe which consists of male performers who present various performing arts such as acrobatics, singing, dancing and playing like a circus. It is said that ''namsadang'' was spontaneously formed before ...

group, a wandering artists troupe, first as a child acrobat, then a drummer. At age seven, Kim became the youngest person to win the President's Award in the 1959 National Folk Music Contest. A few years later, Kim began touring internationally with group such as the

Little Angels Children's Folk Ballet of Korea Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

, performing at the

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Olympics, as well as the Osaka EXPO. In 1978, Kim, alongside his colleagues Kim Yong-bae, Lee Kwang-soo, and Choi Jong-sil, formed the SamulNori group. The group used four main instruments:

kkwaenggwari The ''kkwaenggwari'' (; ) is a small flat gong used in traditional Korean music. It is made of brass and is played with a hard stick. It produces a distinctively high-pitched, metallic tone that breaks into a cymbal-like crashing timbre when st ...

, jing, buk, and

janggu The ''janggu'' (, also transliterated as ''janggo'' or ''changgo'') or ''seyogo'' () is a drum often used in traditional Korean music. It consists of an hourglass-shaped body with two heads made from various types of leather. The two heads pr ...

, the latter of which Kim played. They performed indoors, as, under the Park Chung-hee administration, traditional instruments were associated with

student protests Campus protest or student protest is a form of student activism that takes the form of protest at university campuses. Such protests encompass a wide range of activities that indicate student dissatisfaction with a given political or academi ...

, and playing them outside could lead to arrest. The ''samul nori'' genre expanded from this initial ensemble, as more groups started to play the same music style. ''Samul nori'' soon gained popularity both nationally, especially among the urban youth, and globally, with the quartet being invited to perform in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

and at the opening of Disney World Resort’s Epcot Centre in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

in 1982. In 1985, the group began touring Europe. In 1993, the original ''samul nori'' quartet disbanded, as a result of internal conflicts, burnout, and financial issues. However the same year, Kim founded a large ''samul nori'' orchestra called ''Hanullim'' (). The orchestra seeks to promote ''samul nori'' performance. Kim was appointed as the founding professor of the School of Korean Traditional Arts at the

in 1993. Kim has won numerous awards, including the Fukuoka Arts and Culture Prize and the Order of Cultural Merit. He was also listed as one of the "50 Most Distinguished Koreans in the 50 Years since National Liberation" by the ''

Chosun Ilbo ''The Chosun Ilbo'' (, ), also known as ''The Chosun Daily,'' is a Korean-language newspaper of record for South Korea and among the oldest active newspapers in the country. With a daily circulation of more than 1,800,000, ''The'' ''Chosun Ilbo ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Duk-soo 1952 births Korean traditional musicians South Korean folk musicians South Korean drummers South Korean child musicians Recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit (South Korea) Recipients of the Fukuoka Prize Living people Academic staff of Korea National University of Arts