chiri

“Chiri” is a phenomenon, a meeting of old and new, of East and West, a groundbreaking musical project that will introduce audiences to the astounding performance tradition of pansori, Korea’s classical music theatre. Simon Barker (drums) and Scott Tinkler (trumpet), two of Australia’s most highly regarded improvisers, together with Korean pansori artist Bae Il Dong, an uncompromising artist of extraordinary power, create what Living Arts Korea has described as a “utopian anthem”. Since forming in 2009, Chiri has performed at the Smithsonian Institute (Washington DC), the 2011 MONA FOMA Festival, the 2011 Melbourne International Jazz Festival, as well as a large-scale tour of the Middle East featuring performances in Lebanon, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, and Cyprus. The Middle East tour represents the largest tour of that region to date by an Australian ensemble. The group has also performed in Korea’s coastal city of Gangneun, a concert which featured collaboratuons with Korean traditional dancers and an East Coast SamulNori ensemble. The Trio has two highly acclaimed releases to date; the 2009 realease Chiri, and the 2011 release, The Return of Spring. Both releases have received widespread acclaim in print, web and radio media. With improvisation, collaboration and mutual understanding as our guides, Chiri is an exploration of musical possibility by three musicians with varied backgrounds. Each time we perform, our musical and personal friendships deepen, as does our appreciation of the diverse musical traditions of our two countries. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.