Sang Won Park (; born 1950) is a South Korean musician. He plays the kayagum and

ajaeng The ''ajaeng'' () is a Korean string instrument. It is a wide zither with strings of twisted silk. It is played with a slender stick of forsythia wood that is drawn across the strings in the manner of a bow (or it can be played w/ a Horsehair ...

, and sings in both traditional Korean and

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any general rules, instead following the intuition of its performers. The term can refer to both a technique—employed by any musician in any genre—and as a recognizable genre of ...

al styles. He was born in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. He began his musical studies at the age of ten and later studied traditional instruments, voice, dance, and Western music at the National Conservatory in Seoul and at

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the SKY (universities), SKY universities and a part of the Flagship Korean National Universities. The university's main c ...

, earning B.A. and M.A. degrees in musicology. He was also a member of the Traditional Music Orchestra of Seoul and a researcher at the Academy of Korean Studies, as well as an instructor at various music schools in Seoul. Park relocated to the United States around 1980, moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He made his Western debut in Carnegie Recital Hall in 1979 and soon began performing and pre-recording in non-traditional settings, collaborating with

Henry Kaiser Henry John Kaiser (May 9, 1882 – August 24, 1967) was an American industrialist who became known for his shipbuilding and construction projects, then later for his involvement in fostering modern American health care. Prior to World War II, ...

Laurie Anderson Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson (born June 5, 1947) is an American avant-garde artist, musician and filmmaker whose work encompasses performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and sculpting,Amirkhanian, Cha ...

Ryuichi Sakamoto was a Music of Japan, Japanese musician, composer, keyboardist, record producer, singer and actor. He pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the Synthesizer, synth-based band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his ...

Jason Kao Hwang Jason Kao Hwang (born 1957) is a Chinese American violinist and composer. He is known for his unconventional and improvisational jazz violin technique as well as his chamber opera '' The Floating Box: A Story in Chinatown'' which premiered in 2001 ...

, and the Far East Side Band. His trio with Henry Kaiser and Charles K. Noyes, called Invite the Spirit, was formed in the summer of 1983 and was probably the first free improvisation ensemble to integrate a Korean traditional musician. The Far East Side Band is a multicultural music group with members from Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and African American backgrounds. He has toured North America and Europe and has also worked with

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, wo ...

and

Joseph Celli Joseph Celli (born March 19, 1944) is an American musician and composer specializing in contemporary and improvised music for oboe and Cor anglais, English horn. In addition, he plays the Yamaha WX5, Yamaha WX7 MIDI breath controller, as well as do ...

. He was also featured in Derek Bailey's ''Improvisation'' television series on the UK's

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

, as well as films by Laurie Anderson and

Nam June Paik Nam June Paik (; July 20, 1932 – January 29, 2006) was a South Korean artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the founder of video art. He is credited with the first use (1974) of the term "electronic super highway" ...

. For many years, Park has earned his living primarily from operating two flower shops in New York City. He has a forthcoming album on the

Water Lily Acoustics Water Lily Acoustics is an American record label in Santa Barbara, California founded in 1985 by Kavichandran Alexander, a Tamil from Sri Lanka. Alexander is a record producer and audio engineer. He named the label after his mother, Lily. The la ...

labe

Discography

Solo

*''Le Kayagum de Park Sang-Won'' (Les Amis d'Orient/Sono Disc ESP 165528)

With Laurie Anderson

*1984 - Laurie Anderson: ''

Mister Heartbreak ''Mister Heartbreak'' is the second studio album by American avant-garde artist, singer and composer Laurie Anderson, released on February 14, 1984, by Warner Bros. Records. Contents Like its predecessor, '' Big Science'' (1982), ''Mister Heart ...

'' (on track 4)

With Henry Kaiser and Charles K. Noyes

*1984 - ''Invite the Spirit''

With Ryuichi Sakamoto

*1989 - ''Beauty''

Films

*1986 - '' Home of the Brave: A Film by Laurie Anderson'' *c. 1990 - ''Improvisation'' (Channel 4) *1986 - ''Bye Bye Kipling'' (satellite spectacular produced by Nam June Paik on public television)

Radio programs

*''Old Traditions, New Sounds'' (public radio documentary)

External links

Sang-Won Park official site