The Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles successfully hosted the “Spirit of Korea” concert on August 2 at Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown LA to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Korea’s Liberation.

The concert featured a large-scale choral and orchestral program themed around the hardships of the colonial era, the joy of liberation, and the vision of peace and prosperity. The highlight was the world premiere of Let My People Go, a commissioned work by renowned composer Nak-Keum Paik, showcasing the unique harmony of Korean traditional instruments and Western orchestration.

The program also included a choral arrangement of Arirang and Amazing Grace, Bernstein’s Make Our Garden Grow, and selections of Korean art songs and folk melodies. The finale, Korea Fantasy, was performed by a 300-member mass choir and orchestra to overwhelming applause, and the evening concluded with all performers and the audience singing Korea’s national anthem together in a moving tribute.