Farewell, My Butterfly- An Evening of Korean Music and Dance, Old and New

"Farewell, My Butterfly: An Evening of Korean Music and Dance, Old and New"

The Oasis Music Series, which has brought exceptional live music to the Boston area, presents an evening of Korean traditional dance, gayageum, and a cross-cultural collaboration bridging Korean classical music, jazz, and contemporary dance.

When most people think of Korean culture today, K-pop and Netflix dramas come to mind — vibrant, energetic, and impossible to ignore. But Korea's artistic tradition carries a quieter power: ink paintings, celadon ceramics, music, and classical dance shaped by restraint, by the eloquence of pause, and by the emotion held in what is left unsaid. That sensibility, centuries old, is very much alive.

This concert, titled "Farewell, My Butterfly" and presented just after the harvest moon festival of Chuseok, brings that tradition to the stage in two contrasting voices. Dancer Lee, Hanna performs Ipchum — one of the foundational forms of Korean classical dance — a meditative work of breath, precise footwork, and flowing line. Gayageum master Kim, Sang Soon presents a Sanjo in the Choe Ok-sam lineage: a form of an entirely different temperament, muscular and deliberate, built on the tension between resolution and release. The two works offer a vivid contrast within the same tradition.

The evening also features Mina Cho's Korean jazz trio (Mina Cho | Matthew Ryu | George Lernis), which weaves together the melodic language of Korean traditional music with American jazz improvisation. Contemporary dancer Nam, Young Ho, based in France, joins them in collaboration — bringing to the stage a creative energy that spans what was once known only as the "Land of the Morning Calm" and the restless artistic spirit of the United States.

The concert is free and open to all, and will be followed by a reception where the audience can meet the performers.