Gagok concert held to celebrate Composer Lee An-Sam, U.N. International Day of Peace

By Seok-Jae Kang
Vice President, Asia Journalists Association

SEOUL: The 8th Dolce Concert took place at the Yun Bong Gil Memorial Hall in southern Seoul, Korea on September 12, 2023 to mark the 80th anniversary of the birth of Korean composer Lee An-sam.

The concert, which was organized by Dolce Classic, was also held to commemorate the 42nd U.N. International Day of Peace, which falls on September 21, and to further globalize Korean gagok. Dolce Classic is led by poetess Seo Young-soon.

The 8th Dolce Concert featured 24 gagok pieces, most of them were composed by composer Lee, who passed away in 2020. Gagok in Korean refers to a genre of vocal music using lyrics from a poem.

The concert is promoted by GCS International, the World Hangung Association, and the Korean Writers Association and the Mirae Ilbo.

Korean soprano Kim Jee-hyun, one of the best-known Asian vocalists, performed two songs composed by Lee An-sam: “One Day, Love to Me,” a song written by poetess Kim Jeong-joo, and “One Heart,” written by female poet Jeon Se-won.

Soprano Kim was appointed as the peace ambassador by GCS International at the 2019 GCS International Convention in Gwangju, Korea. The GCS movement founder, Dr. Young Seek Choue, who passed away in 2012, first proposed the U.N. International Day of Peace in 1981 and the U.N. General Assembly unanimously adopted the proposal that year.

Among the attendees of the concert were GCS International Secretary General Dr. Kang Seok-jae and Nepalese Manshi Chand and Indonesia’s Puspo Nagati, both members of GCS International.

As part of Dolce Classic’s effort to globalize Korean gagok, Chinese soprano Zheng Xuefan, a graduate of the Wuhan Conservatory of Music in China, performed “The Love of Wolnyeonggyo (Bridge),” a song based on lyrics by Dolce Classic President and poet Seo and composed by Lee. Zheng is one of Chinese students of soprano Kim Jee-hyun, a professor of vocal arts at Sangmyung University in Seoul.

“As a GCS International peace ambassador, I will do my best to invite Chinese vocalists to Dolce Classic-organized gagok concerts at home and abroad, thereby helping globalize Korean gagok,” said soprano Kim.

Prof. Kim organized a concert titled “Soprano Kim Jee-Hyun & Golden Muses” in October 2019 featuring a Korean music teacher and Chinese vocalist students for the first time in Korea.

The concert also featured the first performance of “Daffodil,” a song written by poet Lee Seok-soo and composed by Jang Dong-in. The whole concert program was accompanied by pianist Jang Dong-in.

As a special program, poet Han Sang-wan recited a congratulatory poem for composer Lee at the beginning of the second part of the concert.

A couple of baritone Choi Kyung-jin and soprano Shin Hae-won, who both run the Shin Dermatology Clinic in Daegu, performed at the concert. Baritone Choi sang “I Miss You,” a song written by female poet Lee Han-sook and composed by Lee, while soprano Shin performed “Where Are You Coming?”, a song based on the lyrics of poetess Kim Myung-hee and composed by Lee.

Baritone Cho Joo-tae, a lawyer, performed “My Dear Friend,” a song written by poet Jung Chee-keun and composed by Lee. Soprano Kim Bo-young performed “Golden Wings,” a song written by poetess Jeon Kyung-ae and composed by Lee.

All performers sang in chorus “Our Love,” a song based on the lyrics of poetess Seo Young-soon and composed by Lee An-sam, concluding the concert.

“The late composer Lee An-sam played a crucial role in helping Korean gagok gain popularity among Korean people and I want to further globalize Korean gagok by organizing as many gagol concerts at home and abroad as Korean gagok is a form of the Korean wave or ‘hally,’” said Dolce Classic President Seo. “I will also introduce the first Korean gagok piece in Dolce Classic concerts.”