Crippled Symmetries - Busan Composers & Contemporary Music
In this episode, hosts Sara Lucy and Peter Tracy, both master’s students in music sound performance, engage with three South Korean composers—Eunseon Yu, Bum Ki Kim, and Seil Oh—who are based in Busan and featured guests at The Crippled Symmetries Festival. The conversation sets the stage by introducing the guests’ backgrounds, their connection to Busan, and the festival’s focus on contemporary music and international artistic exchange. Notable highlights include the composers’ candid reflections on returning to Korea after years abroad and rediscovering their cultural roots, the discussion of Busan’s unique energy and its role as a creative hub outside Seoul, and the festival’s commitment to localism and underrepresented voices. The episode features an engaging debate on the necessity (or not) of translating Korean culture for Western audiences, the symbolic use of shamanic rituals in new compositions, and the emotional depth behind works inspired by personal loss and collective grief. The episode concludes with expressions of gratitude from the hosts to the composers for their openness and insights, a light-hearted mention of enjoying club maté, and an invitation for listeners to reflect on the themes of ritual, mourning, and cultural identity explored in the conversation, setting an anticipatory tone for the festival performances.
- Transcript
