Traditional dance and music Ensemble UNGIM, Seoul An event as part of the PUTBUS-FESTSPIELE 2026
The Ajaeng Ensemble "Ungim" is a project ensemble that places the Korean string zither Ajaeng at the center of its work. The combination of the traditional sound of this rare stringed instrument with a modern conception of sound gives rise to a unique contemporary musical language. The name "Ungim" refers to the special energy that arises when several voices perform together. It stands for the moment in which the deep resonance of Korean tradition becomes audible anew in the international art context of the present and the future. The ensemble develops new forms of ajaeng music for today's stage from motifs and ways of thinking from the Korean court and folk music. For the concert in Putbus, Ungim is also creating a special program in which a solo dance reinterprets traditional Korean dance, entering into a lively dialogue with the traditional instruments and creating an extraordinary stage situation. Free improvisation, tonal expansion and an emotionally immediately accessible expressiveness combine to create an open, multi-layered sound space. The focus is on breath, silence and the resonance of the low strings of the ajaeng, which are carefully intertwined with modern playing techniques and sound levels. The result is music in which tradition and the present, East and West do not stand in opposition to each other, but breathe together.
