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Pansori & Korean Traditional Music

If you want to learn more about korea,
You should see a pansori performance and join
The Jeonju International Sori Festival
Pansori (or Sori) is one of the traditional Korean music forms. A sori artist (sorikkun) sings and narrates a long story with diverse gestures for at least three hours and up to six hours with the accompaniment of a drummer on a mat in a yard or on a stage with up a folding screen. It was designated as a masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in November, 2011 by UNESCO.

Thanks to Pansori, Jeollabuk-do cherishes the unparalleled cultural status and tradition, and it has been recognized as the mecca of Pansori. In every nook and corner of Jeollabuk-do, the stories of sori masters, who were the most powerful of their days, have been handed down like great legends, and their lives and artistic souls were much more dramatic and tougher than the stories of narratives they sang.

There's a saying that "it's much more difficult to be a myeongchang (sori master) than to be the prime minister". Thus, myeongchangs enjoy supreme authority and honor, but, to reach the highest status, they have to endure a great deal of ordeals and hardships.
For a sorikkun to sing and narrate a long story equal to a volume of a novel, with songs, gestures, facial expression and various performances, is very similar to a performer performing an opera by oneself. If the performance was not supported by the sorikkun's various sori and performance exactly, Pansori would not be able to get as much love from its audience as it does today. It is a very peculiar and even miraculous experience to appreciate a Pansori, a piece of opera, sung by only one sorikkun so closely.
The Jeonju Int'l Sori Festival provides English captions for foreigners to understand and appreciate the Pansori performance easily.
If foreigners want to see Koreans' feelings or sensitivity, and lives more deeply, and further experience Koreans' high artistic level, Pansori will be the first choice to experience.
Also, to experience the original forms of various traditional music including Korean instrumental music, dance, and other kinds of performances with Pansori, as well as how they have changed in modern times and how they will be developed in the future, the Jeonju Int'l Sori Festival has become an essential tourist attraction.