Saturday August 5 * 7pm * TICKETS
After spending his childhood in South Korea, Alfred Yun moved to the US as a teenager. Typical of many immigrant families, Alfred Yun has moved around: Pennsylvania, California, Virginia, and Massachusetts. In Boston, he studied Contemporary Writing and Production at the Berklee College of Music. Alfred Yun also holds a degree in Philosophy and French Literature from Randolph College. For several months, Alfred Yun studied at the National Gugak Center in Seoul to learn traditional Korean music.
Many of his compositions reflect his transient life and identity, drawing from his Korean background as well as his philosophical studies. Fortunately, Alfred Yun has been able to bring his music to several venues in the Greater Washington D.C. area such as Strathmore AMP, the Kennedy Center, An Die Musik Live, Franklin Park Arts Center, Mr. Henry’s, and more.
In this project, Alfred Yun attempt to synthesize his anxieties and playfulness. For the past year, he has been composing pieces that are ludic and playful. Often, he drew from childhood games that he played in Korea, turning them into musical games. However, his earlier compositions tended to be more intense and angsty. Recently, Alfred Yun has been trying to synthesize these two tendencies, because, in fact, that’s his experience of Korea. Growing up, Korea was full of anxieties, recovering from a devastating war and decades of US backed dictators. Yet, there was a sense of playfulness that accompanied these changes: an inherent sense of fun and playfulness that we refer to as 흥 (heung). This was very apparent in the 2000’s, when Alfred Yun lived in Korea. The country was rebuilding itself at a blindingly fast pace, work was very stressful, and the people had no patience whatsoever. Nevertheless, Koreans were partying harder than anybody else: drinking more, staying out later, and trying to have the most fun imaginable. Alfred Yun hopes to channel this energy in old and new compositions, along with excellent musicians.
New River, as a unit, explores new approaches to improvisation and structure through Charlie Reichert Powell’s original music, which draws deep inspiration on his love for the outdoors, puzzles and logic, and musical traditions spanning from Tom Waits to John Coltrane to Ryoji Ikeda. Charlie is a guitarist, producer, and composer from Chicago currently based in Baltimore.