K-Music Festival 2025 on its way

Discovering - and resolving - gaps in my musical knowledge is always a delight and this autumn will allow me to explore a celebration of Korean music across London between 1 October and 20 November. I’m particularly excited to hear a collaboration between string trio Hilgeum with innovative London singer Alice Zawadzki.

The K-Music Festival 2025 will also provide many more collaborations between Korean and British musicians across all genres, with jazz-influenced chamber and orchestral works and a host of improvisation.

Since 2013, London’s K-Music Festival has showcased the diversity and innovation of contemporary Korean music and I am looking forward to experiencing it this year for the first time.

The people behind the K-Music Festival are Serious, who produce the EFG London Jazz Festival, this time working alongside the Korean Cultural Centre UK, featuring leading Korean and UK artists at major London venues including the Barbican, Southbank Centre, Royal Albert Hall, and Kings Place.

The opening concert - Wednesday 1 October at Kings Place - brings together Korean cellist and composer Okkyung Lee and UK-based electronic artist Mark Fell. They promise a performance shaped by extended techniques, abstract rhythms, visceral improvisation and electronic soundscapes.

The following concerts include JAMBINAI together with conductor Robert Ames and the London Contemporary Orchestra, marking the first time a traditional Korean band has headlined the Barbican. Later in October, Korean string trio Hilgeum will make their London debut performing with British vocalist and composer Alice Zawadzki. Acclaimed composer and multi-instrumentalists Park Jiha and Won Il each perform a show, while the quartet Gray by Silver will appear at the Elgar Room, Royal Albert Hall, as part of the Late Night Jazz series.

The final concert on Thursday 20 November at Barbican Hall brings a major commission: the world premiere of a new concerto by composer Dong-hoon Shin, written for pianist Seong-Jin Cho and performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. This performance is part of the LSO Futures series and marks a significant collaboration between two leading Korean artists in the field of contemporary classical music.

There is a lot on offer for the K-Music Festival 2025 - get your tickets now.