We are filled with overwhelming gratitude for all the good people and blessings in my life and, most of all, for your loving support for this very special project, Pansori Cantata Gilryungjeon.  Thanks to your donations to the project, our fundraising campaign reached the goal and successfully ended!

The Gugak Jazz Society members safely arrived in Boston on September 30, 2019, and had an intense but a tremendous time meeting with such enthusiastic music lovers in Boston and collaborating with various local musicians and the NEC Jazz Composers' Workshop Orchestra.

The premiere last Tuesday, October 8, 2019, at NEC's Brown Hall was truly the highlight of our musical journey.  The hall was packed with so many people to the extent we were running out of chairs even after people grabbed their seats in the balcony.

During the concert, there were so many moving moments that couldn't be expressed in words.  All the musicians played with their hearts reaching a spiritual level musically.  After the premiere, we received a plethora of encouraging emails, notes, and texts from NEC professors, students, and local musicians who came to the concert and from the other random concert attendees that they were shocked and blown away by the incredible music and performance.
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Please visit our Youtube page to check out the premiere:

Dear friends,

Thank you so much for visiting this page and reading our stories. My name is Mina Cho, a jazz pianist/composer and the director of IGJI (International Gugak Jazz Institute).

I hope that you had a marvelous summer filled with many memorable events and enjoyable moments with your loved ones. The fall is just around the corner, and I am very excited to share with you a very meaningful project about music, culture, and spirituality and some relevant events this fall.

Reflecting my musical journey that had been centered around the subject of spirituality and cross-cultural transformation, last year I have founded a non-profit organization called International Gugak Jazz Institute (IGJI) to create a healthy cosmopolitan culture in tandem with Korean traditional music (Gugak), jazz, and various other musical traditions around the world.

One of the first achievements of IGJI will be introducing the global audience in Boston to a new cross-cultural musical platform––particularly, through my recent composition Pansori Cantata Gilryungjeon (“The Story of Gilryung”). In this piece, a Western Cantata and a jazz orchestra meet the Korean musical storytelling genre Pansori, wherein the resentful life of a blind Pansori singer named Gilryung intersects with the death of Christ in her dream. Gilryung’s story about transforming pain into passion resembles our lives in various ways and will speak to our hearts on a profound level.
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Between September 30, 2019 and October 9, 2019, IGJI will be participating in the “Faith in a City” project that the Somerville Museum presents and hosting various musical events to perform Gilryungjeon. Three Gugak musicians from Korea and one from Boston will be collaborating with various local artists and a jazz orchestra for these events. Accordingly, IGJI is raising $10,000 to cover some of the project expenses (out of the entire expense $17,600); warmly accommodate the participating artists; and proceed with the events. With your financial support and help, the mission of IGJI will be achieved very meaningfully.

Your donation will go toward IGJI Pansori Cantata Project. Please note that we are a tax-exempt organization and your donation qualifies as a tax deduction should you care to take it.
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Lastly, I’d like to invite you to the following events that IGJI presents in October:

• Workshop I: Korean Transformation in Ethnomusicology on Tuesday, October 1, 3:00pm-5:00pm @ Emerson College – 10 Boylston Pl., Boston, MA
• Workshop II: Korean Music and Jazz Collaboration on Thursday, October 3, 4:00pm-6:00pm @ Pierce Hall, NEC – 241 St. Botolph St., Boston, MA
• Concert: “A Faith in a City” of the Somerville Museum featuring Gugak Jazz Society, Sunday, October 6, 2019, 7:30pm @ Distler Performance Hall, Tufts University (The Granoff Music Center) – 20 Talbot Ave. on the Tufts Somerville campus (GPS: 217 College Ave. and Talbot Ave.)
• Premiere: Mina Cho’s Pansori Cantata Gilryungjeon featuring Gugak Jazz Society and NEC Jazz Composers’ Workshop Orchestra on Tuesday, October 8, 8:00pm @ Brown Hall, New England Conservatory – 290 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA

안녕하세요, 

국제국악재즈연구소 (International Gugak Jazz Institute) 디렉터이자 판소리 칸타타 길령전을 작곡한 조미나입니다. 먼저 판소리 칸타타 라는 새로운 장르의 음악을 올해 10월 8일 다문화의 상징적인 도시 미국 보스턴에서 초연하게 되어 매우 기쁘게 생각합니다. 특별히 이 초연과 관련하여 저희 IGJI 는 에멀슨 대학과 뉴잉글랜드 컨서바토리 세계문화연구소 (Intercultural Institute at NEC) 등에서 다양한 워크샵을 주최하게 되었고 서머빌 박물관에서 주관하는 "도시 속 다양한 믿음의 소리" 프로젝트에도 참여하게 되었습니다. 

이를 위해 9/30부터 10/9까지 한국에서 고수 김인수님, 소리 이나래님, 피리/태평소 이나연 님 등을 국악재즈소사이어티 멤버들로서 모시게 되었고, 보스턴에 거주하고 있는 가야금 주자 김도연님도 국재소 멤버로서 함께할 예정입니다. 뉴잉글랜드 컨서바토리의 대표 재즈 오케스트라 중 하나인 NEC Jazz Composers' Workshop Orchestra 멤버들이 국재소 멤버들과 함께 초연에 참여하게 될 것이며, 뉴잉글랜드 컨서바토리 재즈학과 학장인 Ken Schaphorst 교수님께서 이 작품을 지휘해 주실 예정입니다. 
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이 작품의 매인 캐릭터 이름은 "길령"이고, "영원으로의 길" 이라는 의미를 가지고 있습니다. 앞을 보지 못하지만 뛰어난 실력을 가진 25살 소리꾼입니다. 명창으로 입지를 다진 아버지로부터 인정을 받고 싶은 욕망과 자신의 장애에 대한 좌절이 닮긴 노래로 프롤로그를 시작하게 됩니다. 우리와 많이 닮은 삶을 살고 있는 길령이라는 인물이 "예수의 고난과 죽음"이라는 무거운 주제를 어떻게 풀어갈지, 어떤 소리와 모습으로 연주자들과 또 관객들과 호흡하게 될지 많은 기대가 됩니다.

국제국악재즈연구소 (IGJI) 는 2018년에 창립된 신생기관으로서, 올해 가을에 선보이는 판소리 칸타타 프로젝트가 저희의 의미있는 첫 발걸음이 될 것입니다. IGJI의 대표 앙상블 국악재즈소사이어티 멤버들의 본 보스턴 연주 일정과 보스턴 지역 연주자들과의 협연, 국악과 재즈의 창의적인 협력을 위해 만들어질 프로모션 비디오와 초연 앨범 제작 비용 등을 마련하기 위해 이 곳에 펀드레이징 페이지를 열게 되었으니 여러분들의 많은 관심과 사랑 부탁드립니다. 감사합니다!

2019년 9월 6일 보스턴에서 조미나 올림

​We are very excited about sharing our new project "Pansori Cantata with a Jazz Orchestra" with you this fall. In October, the Gugak Jazz Society members in Korea will be coming to Boston to premiere Mina Cho's Pansori Cantata Gilryungjeon ("The Dream of Gilryung").

The premiere will be held on Tuesday, October 8, 2019, 8:00pm @ Brown Hall, New England Conservatory (290 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA). Free Admission.

About the Piece:
Gilryung is the name of the main character in the cantata, and it means "the road to eternity." Gilryung is a blind Pansori singer, whose resentful life intersects with the Passion of Christ in her dream.

Conductor:
We are very honored that the piece will be conducted by Maestro Ken Schaphorst (Chair of Jazz Studies at NEC) and performed by the NEC Jazz Composers' Orchestra.

The Gugak Jazz Society Members:
Narae Lee, Vocal (Sori)
Insoo Kim, Percussion (Gosu)
Nayeon Lee, Piri & Taepyungso
DoYeon Kim, Gayageum
Mina Cho, Piano & Director

Hope to see you all at the premiere!

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If you'd like to meet the GJS members in a more intimate setting before the premiere and learn more about "Pansori and Jazz Collaboration," please come to our workshop for the Intercultural Institute at NEC that will be held on Thursday, October 3, 4:00pm-6:00pm @ Pierce Hall, NEC (241 St. Botolph St., Boston, MA).