4/17/2006

Contact: K.E. Schwab  -- 724-738-2199;  e-mail: karl.schwab@sru.edu

‘SOUNDS OF KOREA’ TO BE PRESENTED IN MUSIC AND DANCE AT SRU

     SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Music and dance will be featured at Slippery Rock University when the “Sounds of Korea,” including three sets of drums recently donated to the university by its sister school Kangwon University in Kangwon, South Korea, will be presented by the Korean Traditional Performing Arts Association of New York when the group visits campus Saturday [April 22].

     The performance, including S.H. Park, a Korean traditional dancer, is set for 6:30 p.m. in Swope Music Hall. Admission is $5 for the general public; $2 for students. Traditional Korean snacks will be offered following the show.     (A 4 p.m. workshop on learning to play the drums will also be offered.)

     SRU and Kangwon University have a longstanding student and faculty exchange program.

     The traditional percussion drums of Korea, known as “samulnori” will be used in the future to help teach the Korean culture to SRU students and others interested in percussion. A samulnori consist of four drums, the largest of which is called a “jang-gu.” Stepping down in size, they are known as “buk,” “jing,” and “gkueng-gari.” The three sets have been assigned to the music department, dance department and the SRU Korea Tiger Club.

     The gift was arranged by Dr. Seong-Kyu Roh, a visiting professor from Kangwon University, who is teaching Korean in the SRU modern languages and cultures department.

     The event is sponsored by the university’s Korean Tiger Club, the Asian Studies Program, the Office of International Services, the College of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts as part of the SRU International Arts and Cultures Series.

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