Jazz Meets Gugak: Singer WoongSan Brings National Theater to New Sounds
Creatrip Team
4 months ago
Jazz vocalist WoongSan (Kim Eun-young) will perform at Seoul’s National Theater (Haerom Theater) on Dec. 5 with a program blending standard jazz, her originals and traditional Korean music (gugak). It will be the first solo jazz show at Haerom since 2017. WoongSan says collaborating with gugak musicians—like geomungo player Lee Jae-ha and janggu player Bang Ji-won—felt like being welcomed into a revered space. Known for her smooth jazz hits, she has spent the past decade studying traditional vocal techniques, even adopting elements of pansori (a Korean narrative singing style) and earning cross-genre credits such as the SPACE NanJang project and the 2023 album Who Stole the Sky, which features several gugak tracks. She emphasizes maintaining her jazz identity and vocal health while exploring court music (jeongga) and other world traditions. The concert highlights a growing fusion trend that pairs jazz improvisation with the modal roots of Korean traditional music.
