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Special Music to Heal Us in the COVID era,
ACC World Music Festival 2021!

8.30 p.m., August 22, 2021. On the last day of 2021 ACC World Music Festival, ACC Art Theater was already bustling with life thirty minutes before the last performance of the festival by SunwooJung A. How long has it been? The sheer fact of being in the same space with people of all ages and sexes was enough reason to be excited. As the COVID era persists steadily in its second year and pandemic fatigue is wearing us down, let’s dive into the ACC World Music Festival, coming to us with two keywords— ‘healing’ and ‘empathy.’

Music Festival Like the Autumn Evening

… Ahn Sook Sun and Kim Dae Il, Sunwoo Jung A and Jung Milla
Daybreak and Lee Hee Moon and OBSG

Special Artists’ Musical Gifts to Delight the Ears

Daybreak

Lee Hee Moon and OBSG

Sunwoo Jung A

Jung Milla

Some music personifies a season or a particular moment in time, like those songs that instantly conjure the last night of October or spring. ACC World Music Festival was an incarnation of the autumn evening—not the late fall with its freezing gusts at its tail but the fresh breeze of early fall overpowering the summer heat. The festival's timing indeed reflected it and its musical offering, too, mirrored the fresh autumn air. Where the excitement of the "World Stage" and "Music Stage" took after the midday heat, the eclectic "ACC Stage" reminded us of the breeze in an early fall evening that brings in the cool temperature.

The diversity of the musical feast at the ACC World Music Festival 2021 from August 20th to the 22nd was enough to forget that we were still living in the COVID era where everything was cut off. The lineup for the 12th ACC World Music Festival was just as wide-ranging as the age of the concert-goers, including fifteen groups from Korean traditional music, jazz, tango, fado, and folk genres.

Also noticeable was the collaboration between Korean music and other genres. It was an extraordinary opportunity to listen to many pairs of collaborations between Korean traditional singer soriggun Kim Jun-su and folk musician Choi Gonne, jazz bassist Seo Young-do and soriggun Kim Yul-hee, Korean traditional percussion player Han Solip and crossover group Southern Gyeonggi Jazz. The festival did not lack popular appeal. On the invitation list was the veteran pop-rock band Daybreak, the talented duo Mimi Sisters, and Tresbonbon led by Sung Ki Wan of Third Line Butterfly. Also joining the lineup were local musicians Art4 Ensemble, The BROSs Combo Band, Sloe Jean, Saenal, Band Nocturnal, The Noya, and all New and Rising contest winners.

Mimi Sisters x Tresbonbon

Bandi Band (Art4 Ensemble)

ACC World Music Festival never shied away from trying something new. "ACC WMF PAN" was the new trial of this year's festival. The feature performance by "The Water" on ACC PAN and "Gut and Flow” for ACC Immersive presented a unique experiment only available at ACC. There were also big names for this world music event, notably Portugal's beloved fado artist Mariza who prepared an experimental online performance for this year's World Music Festival. Furthermore, performers from the United States and Korea collaborated online in real-time as a part of ACC WMF Telematic Ensemble.

ACC PAN The Water

The World is Huge and Music is Infinitely Varied!
Venture into the strange and new world of music!
Enjoy the ACC World Music Festival online and in person, this year only!

Founded in 2010, ACC World Music Festival is in its 12th year. It has grown into a veritable music event that opens the door to the variety of music from all over the world. This year, it is held at ACC Art Theatre and Children's Theatre of the Children's Culture Center with free admissions. In compliance with the COVID regulations, the festival-goers were required to maintain social distancing, which made the ticket reservation harder. Luckily, ACC aired the concerts in real-time on their official YouTube channel. No singing along or standing is allowed at the concert hall, but anything is possible when you are in the first row of your very own concert room—quenching your thirst, shouting and roaring as much as your excitement takes you, dancing, talking to other people in the comments—anything and everything the concert would inspire you to do.

COVID taught us the fragility of life.
ACC World Music Festival gave a brief moment to find comfort, respite, and courage in the music’s embrace!

9 p.m., August 22, 2021. The last performance of the ACC World Music Festival began. The secret garden of music SunwooJunga opened inside the theatre was already filled with an audience. The first song was DwinggulDwinggul (*onomatopoeia for rolling around leisurely). Rolling, rolling, rolling around the floor, the piece sings about our life as "world's super sloths" in the age of COVID, suffering from eternal procrastination. SunwooJunga follows it up with lovely tunes of Goo Ae (*seeking love) and Goyangyi (*cat). There was even a fun back-and-forth between the audience clapping to Sunwoo's skat during Goyangyi. No thunderous roars or standing up, but the joyful clapping along brought about just as much passion. What started as a soft, tender beginning rose up to a more exciting lineup of It's Raining, Let's Escape, Classic, and Buffalo. Without any elaborate staging or backup dancers, SunwooJunga led the audience for an hour, sometimes with jests, sometimes in intense agony, and sometimes with ardor.

Yes, this was it. Music, the healing and comfort that music offers is about telling us that everything will be ok and to run away with it to anywhere we'd like. That mere gesture comforts us, gives us courage, and helps us to come back and face the troubles of the world. That is why we have loved ACC World Music Festival for the past 12 years and eagerly await the next year!

• Written by Min-im Choi. samagg@hanmail.net
  Photo. Provided by ACC
  
  2021.09