The geomungo is a traditional Korean stringed instrument whose history spans more than 1500 years. Bearing the disapproval of her professors, Lee Joung -Ju decided to quit the regional orchestra of which she had been a part for 10 years in order to create her own style of music.
In 1994, due to her skillful ability she successfully completed the examination allowing her to become National Living Treasure n. 16 *.
Lee Joung-Ju endeavours to prove that her instrument can fit into many different genres of music.
Consequently, she became the first geomungo player to play fusion music. Because of a lack of students, the geomungo, a uniquely Korean instrument, is gradually disappearing.
There are presently about 200 professional geomungo players performing in traditional music orchestras with only about 12 soloists.
Lee Joung-Ju, wishing to further knowledge about and garner interest in her instrument, as well as Korean cultural heritage, encourages people to discover her instrument through concerts not only in Korea but also abroad.
France has shown great interest in her work and she has already been invited to perform there on five occasions.
Lee Joung-Ju published her first album << E’Joung-Ju>> with members of the E’Joung-Ju Ensemble on the Synnara Record label in 2006.
She has played with several musicians from around the world and consequently has managed to attract a large variety of audiences who appreciate her music.
Whether in private concerts or on the stage of the National Theater, performing traditional acoustic or electronic fusion, solo or in a group setting, Lee Joung-Ju is constantly surprising us.
With Seb Martel coming to Korea, this is the opportunity for quite a famous French band to show its music to Koreans and experience Koreans' attitude to their music on the one hand, and in the other hand for a Korean audience to discover a new type of music.
However Lee Joung-Ju, always willing to build a cultural bridge between Korea and foreign countries through musical expression, will play with Seb Martel in some pieces with her goemungo.
This will be a real challenge where the musical language shows us that no borders exist - just sharing does.
*According to UNESCO, the Living Human Treasures are “Persons or groups who possess a very high level of knowledge and know-how to keep, to create or to produce the specific elements of non-material cultural heritage.
These are chosen by their country or their communities as witnesses of genius/creativity and examples of living traditional culture in communities or the groups representing their territory.”
