Gangnam-gu Launches Its First Traditional Korean Music Orchestra

Gangnam-gu, led by District Mayor Jo Seong-myeong, is founding the Gangnam Gugak Orchestra — the first traditional Korean music ensemble established by an autonomous district in Seoul — to preserve Korean traditional music and bring it to wider audiences.

The district will hold a founding ceremony at Gangnam Theatre at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, marking the orchestra's official launch. The Gangnam Cultural Foundation will oversee its operations.

As Korean culture — from K-pop to traditional arts — draws growing global attention, interest in the melodies and instruments of gugak has risen alongside it. Gangnam-gu plans to move gugak beyond the realm of preservation and develop it into performance content that residents and tourists alike can enjoy. The district intends to broaden the local gugak ecosystem by connecting its existing education and transmission infrastructure — including the National Gugak Middle and High School in Gaepo-dong and the National Intangible Heritage Center in Samseong-dong — with major cultural and tourism landmarks such as Coex, Gangnam Square and Seonjeongneung.

The Gangnam Gugak Orchestra is built around young musicians aged 39 and under, with 20 members organized across seven instrument sections: gayageum, geomungo, daegeum, piri, haegeum, ajaeng and percussion. The ensemble aims to give young gugak artists sustained performance opportunities while expanding residents' access to high-quality traditional music close to home.

The orchestra plans to stage regular and special performances as well as outreach concerts at key cultural and tourism sites including Coex, Gangnam Square and Seonjeongneung. It will develop programs that blend the depth of traditional gugak with a contemporary sensibility, creating performances accessible to children, seniors and foreign tourists alike, while adding a dimension of traditional cultural prestige to Gangnam's city brand — already defined by K-pop, shopping and medical tourism.

Kim Jong-seop, chairman of the Gangnam Cultural Foundation, said the foundation would draw on its experience running the Gangnam Symphony Orchestra and the Gangnam Choir to support the new ensemble's stable growth. "We will put our energy into developing repertoire and planning performances so that young gugak musicians can showcase their talents to the fullest and residents will want to come back again and again," he said.

District Mayor Jo said the founding of the Gangnam Gugak Orchestra was "a meaningful starting point — not merely for preserving gugak as a precious cultural heritage, but for developing it into a living culture that residents can enjoy in their everyday lives." He added that the district would provide active support "to build Gangnam into a dignified global cultural city where tradition and modernity harmonize."