CRS invites you to join us in Brooklyn on Dec 4, 2022 for our first collaboration with Roulette, a concert in celebration of CRS Crossing Boundaries curator GAMIN’s recent album “Nong” presented at Roulette with support from CRS and performed by CRS Crossing Boundaries curator gamin with members of the INTERWOVEN ensemble, and composer and electronic sound artist Yoon-Ji Lee.

Nong is an ancient Korean term meaning “to play” — here, the joy of discovering new ways of playing when different cultures intersect. gamin, a Korean-born NYC-based multi-instrumentalist specializing in traditional Korean wind, along with her collaborators, places instruments and concepts from traditional Korean music alongside a variety of American musical elements.

On the program, Theodore Wiprud’s Mudang for Piri (a double-reed bamboo oboe) incorporates shamanic energy that ranges from meditation to ecstasy. Korean composer Yoon-Ji Lee dedicates her composition to ‘comfort women’ (local women enslaved throughout Japan-occupied East Asia, 1932-1945) in her work for taepyungso (a double-reed shawn) and strings. Works by William David Cooper weave Western string instruments with Korean winds, incorporating folk tunes and different tuning systems. Korean composer Ki-Young Kim reflects Korean traditional philosophical ideas in his new piece, and gamin’s composition broadens the range of the new musical realm with her traditional improvisatory ideas of Korean folk music.

With Nong, gamin and her collaborators—the string quartet Interwoven and electronic sound artist Yoon-Ji Lee—hope to diversify American audiences’ aesthetic understanding of East Asia, which is all too often painted in broad strokes. They also intend to inspire new generations of American composers and musicians to embrace the inherent multiculturalism of American music, inform their crafts with rich traditions from around the world, and approach music-making with the distinct goal of bridging cultural divides.

gamin is a Korean born NYC based multi-instrumentalist specialized for traditional Korean wind. She tours the world performing both traditional Korean music and cross-disciplinary collaborations. She is a scholar and designated Yisuja, official holder of Korea’s Important Intangible Cultural Asset No. 46.

From 2000 to 2010, gamin was the principal player at the National Gugak Orchestra.  gamin has received several cultural exchange program grants, including Artist-in-Residence at the Asian Cultural Council, and has collaborated in cross-cultural improvisation with world-acclaimed musicians, presenting premieres at Roulette Theater, New School, and Metropolitan Museum. gamin was featured artist at the Silkroad concert, Seoul, 2018, performing on-stage with the founder, Yo-Yo Ma.

Since 2018, gamin curated performances at the Center for Remembering and Sharing. For 2020, gamin was selected as artist-in-residency at the HERE Arts Center, NYC, and her album ‘Nong’ was released by Innova Records. gamin’s Carnegie Hall solo début, accompanied by Nangye Gugak Orchestra, scheduled for March 2020, was postponed by Covid 19. For 2021-2022, gamin was awarded the prestigious two year Fellowship by Jerome Hill Foundation.

gaminmusic.com/