Music Spotlight

[Anchor Lead]

Today, we have the story of a young musician who skillfully plays the marimba, in spite of his loss of vision. Then, we take you to a popular crossover concert blending Western and traditional Korean music.

[Pkg]

It's a clear and immaculate sound. This percussion instrument has 61 keys, and the player is Jeon Kyung-ho, who suffers a class one visual impairment. He was born blind. He read music transcribed into braille to memorize the entire piece and kept practicing until he could remember it with his whole body.

[Soundbite] Jeon Kyung-ho(Percussion Musician with Vision Loss) : "I think the only way is that I must acquaint myself with the marimba by calculating and remembering the distance."

He first learned how to play the drum at a school for the blind when he was young. He was soon fascinated by the sounds of percussion instruments.
He even graduated from Korea National University of Arts as a player of marimba, an instrument that is challenging even for people who don't have a disability.

While others said it was impossible, Jeon never gave up and did his best. He even held a solo concert.

[Soundbite] Jeon Kyung-ho(Percussion Musician with Vision Loss) : "I only hope that I can become a musician who inspires and heals somebody."

His passionate challenge to find the light of the world in music is more touching than music itself. An old song with a sorrowful melody becomes a piece of a completely different style through the combination of the traditional Korean wind instrument daegeum and Western instruments. Traditional Korean vocal music pansori is played to the accompaniment of a drum. The inspiring crossover between Oriental and Western music draws an enthusiastic response from the audience.

[Soundbite] Lee Ji-won(Viewer) : "At first, I had little expectations about the traditional Korean music concert, thinking it could be boring. But I has found it very entertaining."

The concert's host is an actor who mesmerizes the audience with his professional-like drum skills.

[Soundbite] Cho Jae-hyun(Actor) : "This Yeowoorak Festival offers opportunities to more understand traditional Korean music and obtain new perspectives about it."

Each year, seats quickly sell out to the summer night traditional Korean music festival "Yeowoorak," which is known for featuring new talented musicians and creative stages. Consisting of eleven smaller concerts, the crossover music festival showcases the charms of traditional Korean music that evolve along with the passage of time.