Kim So Ra
boundary-crossing Korean Percussion
Kim So Ra
Korean percussionist, performance artist, world musician, and producer Kim So Ra is celebrated for her uninhibited, boundary-crossing activities in the world music scene. After the release of her 1st album A Sign of Rain in 2018, she successfully debuted in Europe and North America as an official showcase artist at the world’s biggest music exposition WOMEX 2018 and Mundial Montreal 2018. In 2019, her first album A Sign of Rain was nominated for Korean Music Awards Best Jazz & Crossover Album. During her solo world tour, Kim was invited to reputable venues and festivals in 24 cities across 7 different countries in Europe, North America and Oceania.
The complex and energetic performances of Kim So Ra’s 2nd album Landscape (2021) are more expressive and less restrained. She aims to present the distinct rhythms and timbres of traditional percussion, changed yet unchanged, in a more modern and sophisticated format. Pungmul and Shamanic rhythms have been passed down for generations across Korea’s eight provinces. Through contemporary reimaginings of those traditional patterns and the expression of joy and release in her music, Kim aims to create a sort of ritual in which we can all take part in and find comfort.
Landscape Tour Members: Kim So Ra (percussion), Hyun Seung Hoon (percussion), and Oh Cho Rong (Piri, Saenghwang, Taepyungso)
“creating an immersive aural tapestry that evokes the power, delicateness & ephemerality of a sudden rainstorm.”
“WOMAD always produces surprises and one of the stars of the festival this year (2019) is South Korean percussionist Kim So Ra.”
