The poster for "Splendor of Court Music: Memoirs of a Korean Queen" (K-Vox Festival's Facebook page)

By Jung Joo-ri and Lee Jihae

Events showcasing traditional Korean music will be held next month in Belgium and France.

To mark its 10th anniversary, the organizing committee of the Paris-based K-Vox Festival on May 17 said it will host "Splendor of Court Music: Memoirs of a Korean Queen" and "K-Arts, Making the Sound of Korea Resonate." Both events are book concerts commemorating the publication of "The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong," which was written between 1795 and 1805 by the crown princess.

The French-language edition of "Memoirs" was published in March and translated by committee chairperson Han Yu-mi and art director Herve Pejaudier. The concerts are scheduled for June 2 at 7 p.m. at the Korean Cultural Center (KCC) in Belgium and for June 7 at 7 p.m. at the KCC in France.

A celebratory event for the publication will be held on June 11 at the bookstore Le Phenix in Paris.

"K-Arts, Making the Sound of Korea Resonate," which is presented by the School of Traditional Korean Arts at Korea National University of Arts (KNUA), comprises four programs: "Meeting the Korean Sound," "Soaking Up the Korean Sound," "The Splendor of Court Music: Memoirs of a Korean Queen" and "Traditional Korean Singing: Polychrome Beauty."

The KCC in Belgium on May 16 will present "Those of the Liner 99," a pansori (solo lyrical opera) performance based on French writer Victor Hugo's novel "Les Miserables."

The master class "To Discover Traditional Korean Music: Songs and Instruments" is also scheduled. KNUA professors Chae Soo-jung and Ryu Kyung-hwa, who both teach at their university's traditional arts school, will jointly hold classes on May 30 at the Free University of Brussels and on June 9 at Sorbonne University in Paris.

A public workshop on traditional Korean music on May 31 will be held by KNUA graduates and students at the language school of the University of Antwerp. It will also open on June 10 at a home named after the French novelist Andre Malraux in the commune of Montigny-le-Bretonneux in the Yvelines department of France's Ile-de-France region.

The KCCs in both France and Belgium will host these events with support from the Literature Translation Institute of Korea.

All of the events are free but reservations are required. More information is available on the websites of K-Vox Festival, the KCC in France and KCC in Belgium.