Conference Agenda
The Online Program of events for the 2026 AMS Annual Meeting appears below. This program is subject to change. The final program will be published in early November.
Use the "Filter by Track or Type of Session" or "Filter by Session Topic" dropdown to limit results by type. Some of the sessions are also color-coded: purple indicates performances, grey indicates paper forums, and orange indicates sessions which have been organized by one of the regional associations of IMS (ARLAC or IMSEA). (Sessions which are both IMS sessions and performances are only colored orange.)
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Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 1st Sept 2026, 02:57:21am EDT
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Daily Overview |
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Echoes of Colonialism in Modern Korean Music Session Chair: Jeong-In Lee | |
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Reimagining Arirang Across the Border:Transborder Circulation, Ideology, and Musical Affect in Divided Korea Asian Music Research Institute of Seoul National University, This paper examines how musicians from North and South Korea have articulated gestures of reconciliation through the circulation of composed Arirang across the divided peninsula. Recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2012, Arirang embodies the Korean affect of han and historically carried collective sentiments under Japanese colonial rule. Since the Korean War, the song has been continually adapted and reinterpreted on both sides. Rather than treating Northern and Southern musical practices separately or framing them within ideological binaries (Keith Howard 2020, Peter Moody 2025, Kyunghwa Lim 2025), this study highlights works that cross borders, including performances in the opposing regime, transnational exchanges, and inter-Korean collaborations. Three case studies illuminate these dynamics. First, Arirang Fantasy (1976) by North Korean composer Choi Sung-hwan premiered in Japan under Korean conductor Kim Hong-jae, was later staged in South Korea, and gained international visibility when conducted by Lorin Maazel with the New York Philharmonic in Pyongyang. Second, Arirang Alone (1989) by South Korean composer Handol was sung at the request of North Korean authorities during Cho Yong-pil’s 2005 Pyongyang concert and later performed by a North Korean art troupe in South Korea during the 2018 Winter Olympics. Third, the 2019 “Arirang Medley” collaboration between South Korean haegeum performer Jeong Gyeo-woon and North Korean so-haegeum performer Bang Dal-hwa explores convergences and divergences in traditional instrumental practice. Drawing on score analysis, performance reviews, and interviews, the paper traces how Arirang has been continually reimagined across ideological divides. Taken together, I argue that these cases demonstrate that Arirang operates not only as a shared cultural memory that carries the pain of division but also as a medium of empathetic listening—one that invites gestures of unity by challenging boundaries between tradition and modernity, nationalism and transnationalism. Despite heightened political tension and the ongoing division of nearly eighty years, the transborder trajectories of Arirang exemplify what Arjun Appadurai calls a “deterritorialized cultural flow,” generating new affective communities across and beyond the peninsula. Ultimately, this study contributes to broader discussions on borders, folk/contemporary music in divided Korea, and intercultural creativity beyond ideology. | |