“I think the time has come to break down the very idea of dividing genres into Western music and traditional Korean music.”
A Western classical conductor will take the podium for a Korean traditional orchestra, while a Greek tragedy will be staged as pansori. The National Theater of Korea’s recently announced 2026-2027 repertory season is filled with productions where tradition and modernity, East and West, collide and blend.
The theme of this season at the National Theater of Korea is ‘The Resonance of Tradition Opening a New Era.’ From next month 21 through June 27 next year, a total of 75 productions, including 19 new works, will run over 311 days. Kim Seok-il, acting head of the National Theater of Korea, said, “If previous seasons focused on how to pass down tradition, this one centers on why traditional arts are needed in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI).”
The production drawing the most attention for its clear East-West fusion is the National Orchestra of Korea’s orchestral series ‘2026 Discovery,’ set for Nov. 25. It will be led by conductor Seokwon Hong, who was selected by the German Music Council as a ‘Maestro of the Future.’ It will be his first collaboration with the orchestra since last year’s concert marking the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation. Hong said, “I want to focus on how much new and innovative work we can create by blending Western music and traditional music.”
The National Changgeuk Company of Korea will reinterpret Western classics in the language of pansori. Artistic Director Yu Eun-seon said, “The reason we placed the classics at the center is that they contain human emotions and questions that do not disappear, even as the times change.” The new production ‘Oedipus,’ opening in November, adapts Sophocles’ tragedy with a script by Bae Sam-sik and direction by Choi Jin-a, taking the bold step of casting Oedipus as a woman. In June next year, ‘Chunhyang,’ a reinterpretation of Chunhyangga by director Jona Kim, will be staged, and in April, ‘Lear,’ which was nominated for Best Director at the Olivier Awards in the United Kingdom, will return.
The barrier-free musical play ‘Ong Ong Ong,’ which will be staged in September, begins with the traditional madang play Onggijipjeon and then breaks it open with modern music such as techno. It is directed by Kang Hoon-gu, winner of the Young Theater Award at the Baeksang Arts Awards. The National Dance Company of Korea will open its season in October with ‘Double Bill: Sinawi,’ which sets master Bae Jeong-hye and newcomer Bae Jin-ho in dialogue across generations.
[Koo Jeong-geun]
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
