KB News Desk
Korean Cultural Centre UK’s 13th edition proposes that Korea’s musical identity extends well beyond K-pop
The K-Music Festival returns to London for its 13th edition this fall, sending Korean folk, hip-hop, jazz and gaming soundtracks across nine venues over two months — an expanded lineup organizers say reflects how far Korea’s musical identity has grown beyond K-pop.
Organized by the Korean Cultural Centre UK and running from Sept. 28 to Nov. 23, the festival includes a National Gugak Center orchestra performance of newly arranged songs from online game “Black Desert” and video game “Lies of P” at Southbank Centre, and an Oct. 17 headline set by the band Chudahye Chagis, whose ritual-music-infused “Sosuminjok” won Album of the Year at the 2026 Korean Music Awards.
The festival opens Sept. 28 at EartH Theatre with a triple bill: ADG7, an eight-piece ensemble that fuses shamanic ritual music from the Hwanghaedo region in the northwest of the Korean Peninsula with dynamic choreography and dance-driven arrangements; hip-hop duo Lil Cherry & GOLDBUUDA, siblings raised in Miami, New York and Seoul; and singer-songwriter Chang Kiha, known for his work in art pop and indie rock.
Korean and French musicians convene at Stone Nest on Oct. 3 for a performance of “Wind Alone, Sand Alone — Make No Sound,” staged in the round. The piece blends medieval chant, Korean traditional music, ambient sound and improvisation and features six musicians, including Sim Eun-yong of the post-rock group Jambinai.
On Oct. 11, the National Gugak Center’s orchestra performs newly arranged music from “Black Desert” alongside music from other well-known Korean video games including “Lies of P” and “Let’s Get Rich” at Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room. The concert, titled “Korean Games in Concert,” reworks the soundtracks through traditional Korean instruments, paired with visuals inspired by historic Seoul and Gyeongbokgung.
Chudahye Chagis brings its blend of Korean shamanic ritual music, psychedelic funk, hip-hop, R&B and rock to the venue Rich Mix on Oct. 17. The Seoul-based group, led by vocalist Chu Dahye, won Album of the Year and Best R&B/Soul Song at the 2026 Korean Music Awards for its latest album, “Sosuminjok.”
At the Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room on Oct. 29, gayageum player and composer Park Kyung-so joins Swedish bassist Bjorn Meyer for a cross-cultural performance. Park is known for blurring the line between traditional and contemporary Korean music, while Meyer, an ECM recording artist and winner of the Swiss Music Prize, has built a reputation as one of Europe’s most inventive bassists.
Power trio Dongyang Gozupa returns to London on Nov. 11, performing at Rich Mix after a sold-out K-Music Festival appearance in 2022. The group fuses progressive and post-rock influences with the yanggeum, a Korean hammered dulcimer, and will preview material from an upcoming release.
The K-Music Festival closes on Nov. 23 with a performance at Upstairs at Ronnie’s, Ronnie Scott’s newly opened space, featuring Baroque in Blue. Led by pianist and composer Jung Ji-su, the ensemble merges jazz improvisation with the structural elegance of Baroque music, reimagining Charlie Parker compositions through the lens of Romanticism, Impressionism and Shostakovich. The group was nominated for Best Global Contemporary Album at the 2026 Korean Music Awards.
Park Jaeyeon, artistic director of the K-Music Festival, said this year’s program reflects “the extraordinary breadth of Korea’s musical landscape, from deeply rooted folk practices to some of the most forward-thinking voices in hip-hop, game music, contemporary composition and experimental sound.”
Now in its 13th edition, the festival continues to serve as “a space where tradition and innovation exist in dynamic dialogue,” she said.
