[Traditional N] Sixty Years on the Path of Gayageum Byeongchang: The Musi...

Jeong Ye-jin, holder of Gayageum Sanjo and Byeongchang. Photo by Korea Heritage Service.

Jeong Ye-jin (68, birth name Jeong Ok-sun), holder of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage designation for Gayageum Sanjo and Byeongchang, looks back on a sixty-year musical journey. Born in Seoul in 1958, she entered the lineage of the late master Park Gui-hee in 1969 and has continued performing, teaching, and researching gayageum byeongchang for more than five decades. Last year, the Korea Heritage Service officially recognized Jeong as a holder in the field of gayageum byeongchang, marking the first such recognition in approximately 24 years since 2001.

Gayageum byeongchang is a genre in which the performer sings while directly playing the gayageum. Vocal sound and instrumental performance do not move separately. The resonance of the voice and the vibration of the strings unfold within a single breath. The performance “Jeong Ye-jin: Sixty Years of a Musical Journey” does not simply commemorate the career of one artist. It traces the vocal tone, rhythmic structure, narrative diction, and instrumental composition embedded within the tradition of gayageum byeongchang.

The program opens with “Gumi Mueul Nongak.” Nongak functions as a musical invocation of communal rhythm and collective energy. The percussion patterns created by kkwaenggwari, jing, janggu, and buk announce the beginning of the performance. By placing nongak before a stage centered on gayageum byeongchang, the program recalls how Korean traditional music has long existed through instruments, dance, rhythmic cycles, and communal festivity.

Poster for “Jeong Ye-jin: Sixty Years of a Musical Journey.” Photo by Korea Heritage Service.

Following nongak comes the short danga piece “Nogeumbangcho,” traditionally used to open the voice and refine tonal resonance before longer vocal works. The song evokes green shade, fragrant grass, and seasonal landscape imagery while revealing the clarity of vocal tone and depth of breathing.

The Sugungga excerpt “Gogocheonbyeon~Sangjwada툼” emphasizes vivid narration and the texture of spoken expression between characters. Sugungga, centered on the rabbit and the turtle envoy, is marked by wit and satire. The Chunhyangga section “Jeo Geonneo~Cheonjaduipuri” highlights literary diction and playful verbal interpretation. In particular, “Cheonjaduipuri” requires refined gestural performance and interpretive skill from the singer.

Among the Chunhyangga repertoire, “Sarangga” approaches the audience most directly within the gayageum byeongchang stage tradition. The scene depicting the affection between Chunhyang and Mongryong centers on lyrical melody and intimate narrative expression. The gayageum accompaniment does not overwhelm emotion but instead follows the cadence and texture of the words themselves.

Midway through the performance, the daegeum piece “Cheongseonggok” alters the atmosphere of the stage. Known for the clear and elevated tonal quality of court-style daegeum music, the work unfolds through restrained breathing and extended resonance. The danga piece “Cheonsaengaejae” then returns focus to vocal technique and tonal structure. Though short in form, danga compresses the performer’s skill into concise musical expression, requiring balance between vocal delivery, rhythmic phrasing, and instrumental accompaniment.

“Baennorae,” performed on a 25-string gayageum, introduces a contemporary sonic expansion into the traditional gayageum byeongchang stage. The wider tonal and harmonic range of the instrument broadens the resonance of traditional folk melodies while preserving the rhythmic imagery of labor songs and drifting water.

Jeong Ye-jin, holder of Gayageum Sanjo and Byeongchang. Photo by Korea Heritage Service.

The final sequence features the folk songs “Namdo Hangangsutaryeong” and “Chunhachudong.” Namdo folk music is characterized by dense vocal resonance and deep sigimsae ornamentation. “Namdo Hangangsutaryeong” carries the imagery of water and the tonal depth of southern vocal tradition, while “Chunhachudong” follows the cyclical passage of the seasons. By concluding with folk songs, the program suggests that Jeong Ye-jin’s artistic path extends beyond the boundaries of gayageum byeongchang alone.

The overall structure of the performance moves from nongak to danga, Sugungga, Chunhyangga, daegeum court music, 25-string gayageum repertoire, and southern folk songs. Rhythmic vitality, literary narration, vocal depth, instrumental restraint, and the expanded possibilities of the modern gayageum unfold sequentially across the program.

Jeong Ye-jin’s sixty years cannot be explained through the history of a single genre alone. The traditions learned from master Park Gui-hee, the present recognition as a heritage holder, and the continuing process of transmission to younger generations converge within the performance. “Jeong Ye-jin: Sixty Years of a Musical Journey” is structured almost as an archive of one artist’s life in music.

The 2026 transmission-holder special event celebrating the designation of National Intangible Cultural Heritage holder Jeong Ye-jin, titled “Jeong Ye-jin: Sixty Years of a Musical Journey,” will take place on May 16 at 5 p.m. at Yeakdang Hall of the National Gugak Center in Seocho, Seoul.

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.