Clandestino Festival 4-6 June 2015

Black Strings music forms a sometimes shamanistic, ritualistic world of sounds that borrows ideas from western jazz and improvised music while standing firmly in an East Asian traditional expression. The band’s leader Yoon-Jeong Heo is a multi-award-winning composer and classically trained geomungo-virtuoso (Korean zither). She is a member of the international instrumental group Tori Ensemble (Clandestino Festival 2012). Black Strings guitarist Jean Oh studied both classical music and improvisation in Seoul, Paris and New York and has toured with American jazz musicians such as George Garzone and Billy Drummond. The third member is Aram Lee, on daegum (flute) and Yanggeum (table zither), also a composer with a long list of Korean movie soundtracks on his CV. Since its start in 2011, the group has taken its captivating dark music to festivals in Europe and Asia and expanded their sound with various temporary members of South Korea’s vital scene on the border between art music, pop and experimental music, such as Min-Su Kang (Janggu drum and vocals) and Dong-Jin Shin (drums).

Supported by Ministry of Culture, Sport & Tourism and Korean Traditional Performing Art Foundation