Sang Won Park (박상원; born 1950, in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

) is a Korean-born musician. He plays the

kayagum The ''gayageum'' or ''kayagum'' (in Korean 가야금, 伽倻琴 in Chinese characters) is a traditional Korean plucked zither with 12 strings, though some more recent variants have 18, 21 or 25 strings. It is probably the best known traditional K ...

and

ajaeng The ''ajaeng'' is a Korean string instrument. It is a wide zither with strings of twisted silk. It is played with a slender stick of forsythia wood that is drawn across the strings in the manner of a bow. The ''ajaeng'' mainly plays the bass pa ...

, and sings in both traditional Korean and free improvisational styles. He began his musical studies at the age of ten and later studied traditional instruments, voice, dance, and Western music at the National Conservatory in Seoul and at

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...

, earning B.A. and M.A. degrees in musicology. He was also a member of the Traditional Music Orchestra of Seoul and a researcher at the Academy of Korean Studies, as well as an instructor at various music schools in Seoul. Park relocated to the United States around 1980, moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He made his Western debut in Carnegie Recital Hall in 1979 and soon began performing and pre-recording in non-traditional settings, collaborating with

Henry Kaiser Henry John Kaiser (May 9, 1882 – August 24, 1967) was an American industrialist who became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding. Prior to World War II, Kaiser was involved in the construction industry; his company was one of ...

, Laurie Anderson, Ryuichi Sakamoto,

Jason Kao Hwang Jason Kao Hwang (born 1957) is a Chinese American violinist and composer. He is known for his unconventional and improvisational jazz violin technique as well as his chamber opera '' The Floating Box: A Story in Chinatown'' which premiered in 200 ...

, and the Far East Side Band. His trio with Henry Kaiser and Charles K. Noyes, called Invite the Spirit, was formed in the summer of 1983 and was probably the first free improvisation ensemble to integrate a Korean traditional musician. The Far East Side Band is a multicultural music group with members from Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and African American backgrounds. He has toured North America and Europe and has also worked with Bill Laswell and Joseph Celli. He was also featured in Derek Bailey's ''Improvisation'' television series on the UK's

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

, as well as films by Laurie Anderson and Nam June Paik. For many years, Park has earned his living primarily from operating two flower shops in New York City. He has a forthcoming album on the Water Lily Acoustics labe

Discography

Solo

*''Le Kayagum de Park Sang-Won'' (Les Amis d'Orient/Sono Disc ESP 165528)

With Laurie Anderson

*1984 - Laurie Anderson: ''

Mister Heartbreak ''Mister Heartbreak'' is the second studio album by avant-garde artist, singer and composer Laurie Anderson, released on February 14, 1984. Like its predecessor, it contains reworked elements of Anderson's ''United States'' ("Langue d'Amour", "Ko ...

'' (on track 4)

With Henry Kaiser and Charles K. Noyes

*1984 - ''Invite the Spirit''

With Ryuichi Sakamoto

*1989 - ''Beauty''

Films

*1986 - '' Home of the Brave: A Film by Laurie Anderson'' *c. 1990 - ''Improvisation'' (Channel 4) *1986 - ''Bye Bye Kipling'' (satellite spectacular produced by Nam June Paik on public television)

Radio programs

*''Old Traditions, New Sounds'' (public radio documentary)

External links

Sang-Won Park official site