The Sookmyung Gayageum Orchestra () is a musical ensemble from

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. It was formed in 1999 by music students at

Sookmyung Women's University Sookmyung Women's University () is a private women's research university in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1906, Sookmyung is Korea’s first royal private educational institution for women. Sookmyung is one of the world's largest ...

. The ensemble comprises up to 24 ''

gayageum The ''gayageum'' or ''kayagum'' () is a traditional Korean musical instrument. It is a plucked zither with 12 strings, though some more recent variants have 18, 21 or 25 strings. It is probably the best known traditional Korean musical instr ...

'', often accompanied by Korean and Western percussion instruments. The group is often led by a conductor, and its performances sometimes features soloists on instruments such as the ''

haegeum The ''haegeum'' () is a traditional Korean string instrument, resembling a vertical fiddle with two strings; derived from the ancient Chinese '' xiqin''. It has a rodlike neck, a hollow wooden soundbox, and two silk strings, and is held verti ...

'', as well as

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

groups and

breakdance Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Puerto Ricans in The Bronx borough of New York City. Breakdancing consists mainly ...

groups such as Last For One. The group performs music ranging from interpretations of ancient '' cheongak'' repertoire, to contemporary compositions by Korean composers, arrangements of Russian, South American, and Japanese folk songs, and arrangements of

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

songs and Western classical works such as the Pachelbel Canon. The Sookmyung Gayageum Orchestra has released 12 CDs.

Discography

* 2000 - Sookmyung Gayageum Orchestra * 2001 - Gayasong * 2003 - Let it be * 2005 - Oriental Move Of Gayageum * 2006 - Lovely Gayageum * 2006 - For You (Best Collection) * 2007 - Singing & Dancing (Single) * 2007 - Nobody know Tears (Single) * 2011 - Water Garden * 2012 - Sweet yawning * 2012 - Lovely Christmas (EP) * 2017 - Nostalgia

External links

Official website

South Korean orchestras Musical groups established in 1999 1999 establishments in South Korea {{Orchestra-stub