Photo by Drawing The Music.
The landscape of gugak creation is beginning to shift. A hands-on project designed to place emerging artists at the center of live performance production has officially begun.
The intensive camp for the “2026 K-New Wave Gugak Creation Project,” jointly organized by Drawing The Music Co., Ltd. and the Korean Association of National and Public Arts Gugak Conductors (KGCA), was held from May 15 to 16 at the Nangye Gugak Experience Village in Yeongdong, North Chungcheong Province. Supported by the Arts Council Korea, the program was carried out in collaboration with six municipal gugak orchestras across the country to foster the next generation of gugak creators.
Unlike a typical competition program, this project was designed to allow selected young composers and conductors to work directly with municipal gugak orchestras through the entire production process, from composition and rehearsals to premiere performances at regular concerts. The focus was placed on cultivating creative skills that can be applied immediately in real performance settings.
The symbolic location of the camp also added significance to the program. At the Nangye Gugak Experience Village, a space associated with Joseon-era musician Nangye Park Yeon, participants gathered to mark the beginning of a new movement in gugak creation.
Photo by Drawing The Music.
Through an open application and screening process, a total of 16 preliminary artists were selected, including eight composers and eight conductors. During the camp, participants shared their creative directions and began their first exchanges with mentors. The program included project introductions, presentations of creative plans, and specialized mentoring sessions. Some mentors joined remotely through online video systems, allowing communication to continue across both in-person and virtual settings.
The gathering was also meaningful in that leading conductors and creators in the gugak orchestra field came together to discuss collaborative models for the next-generation gugak ecosystem. Participants and mentors reportedly spent time exploring how production-centered systems and sustainable growth structures for emerging artists could be built together.
On the first evening, conductor Park Sang-hoo of the KBS Traditional Music Orchestra led a special lecture. The seminar, titled “Stage Manners and Collaborative Communication for Artists,” shared practical insights and real-world experiences needed in actual performance production environments.
On the second day, in-depth mentoring sessions continued based on each participant’s creative proposal and conducting plan. Mentors reviewed artistic direction and practical elements necessary for stage realization, helping participants further refine their projects. According to organizers, the feedback extended beyond general advice and closely resembled the actual production process of professional performances.
Project director Lee Geon-seok stated, “The experience of emerging artists directly working with orchestra members and presenting their own music before audiences is itself part of the growth process,” adding, “This camp will become the starting point of a long-term project.”
Kwon Hye-jin, director of project planning at Drawing The Music, also explained, “The biggest distinction of this project is that it goes beyond a simple showcase program and continues all the way to premieres with municipal gugak orchestras,” adding, “We hope participants will fully develop and complete their own musical worlds.”
Meanwhile, participants will continue collaborating with municipal gugak orchestras and mentors as they move into full-scale production. The completed new works are scheduled to meet audiences sequentially through regular concerts by municipal gugak orchestras nationwide from July through November 2026.
Reported by News Culture M.J._mj94070777@nc.press
* This article was manually prepared as a translated piece and later proofread and reviewed with the assistance of AI.
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