K-Music Festival 2026: Kyungso Park + Björn Meyer
An Intimate, Transcendent Dialogue of Strings
Thu 29 OCT | Elgar Room, Royal Albert Hall
Gayageum innovator Kyungso Park and bassist Björn Meyer meet in an intimate cross-cultural dialogue of resonance, improvisation, and deeply expressive sonic exploration. When Park’s eloquent, bittersweet melodies meet Meyer’s evocative, singing bass, they create a rich sonic world of touch, breath and resonance. This is more than a concert — it is a mature, imaginative and wide-awake musical conversation between two artists who listen deeply across traditions, instruments and borders.
Kyungso Park
For more than two decades, Park has been shaping a contemporary language for the gayageum, the Korean plucked zither — not only as a performer of tradition, but as a composer, improviser and collaborator with a substantial body of original work. Selected as an ARKO Young Art Frontier artist by Arts Council Korea, she has developed a distinctive artistic voice through solo albums, traditional repertoire, contemporary composition and collaborations across continents.
Across the US, Brazil and Europe, Park has worked with musicians including Jaques Morelenbaum, Benjamim Taubkin, Marcos Suzano, Blitz the Ambassador and Renald Deppe, later joining legendary British saxophonist Andy Sheppard for an acclaimed K-Music Festival collaboration. Reviewing her New York performances, New York Music Daily described Park as “one of the most fascinating performances in any New York venue this year.”
Björn Meyer
Joining her is Meyer, acclaimed for expanding the sonic and expressive possibilities of the electric bass in acoustic spaces. Known for his profound solo work on the legendary ECM label and his cross-cultural collaborations with masters like Anouar Brahem and Nik Bärtsch, Meyer treats the performance space itself as a “second member” of his music, creating striking sonorities and intimate, rich-grained textures.
“... Meyer is in total control of his art, presenting this music with soul, intelligence, a tinge of mischief and a barrelful of love.” — Frank Alkyer, DownBeat
This programme is presented by the Korean Cultural Centre UK in partnership with the Royal Albert Hall as part of its Late Night Jazz series.
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Kyungso Park Gayageum
Björn Meyer Bass
