Members from the National Gugak Center perform “Imin Jinyeon,” a royal banquet performance at the center in Seoul in this December 2022 file photo. Yonhap

The National Gugak Center (NGC), specializing in promoting "gugak," or traditional Korean music, is expanding its reach to English speakers by releasing a series of books introducing Korea's traditional music.

Announced Tuesday, the latest addition to the "Korean Musicology Series" marks the 11th volume of the comprehensive English-language publication. Launched in 2007 with its first volume, "Music of Korea," the series aims to help individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds better understand gugak and Korea's traditional arts.

The newly released volume focuses on contemporary gugak, according to the NGC. Eight authors cover various aspects of contemporary gugak, including discourse, institutions and issues about contemporary gugak and historical development as well as notable works and composers.

“With this, the 'Korean Musicology Series' has been expanded to include contemporary music based on Korean traditional musical roots,” the NGC said.

This initiative reflects the NGC's longstanding commitment to promoting new gugak compositions and ensuring the music remains relevant in modern contexts. Since its establishment in 1951, the center has continuously supported innovation in the genre, organizing public calls for works since the 1960s and holding Korean Music Creation concerts from the 1970s to the 2000s.

Earlier volumes in the series have covered diverse subjects, including pansori (a traditional musical storytelling); sanjo (playing of an instrument solo); music notations of Korea; folksong; dance; court ritual music; and even performing arts of North Korea.

Kim Myung-seok, acting director of the NGC, noted he hopes the series will be of great help to individuals and organizations abroad who are interested in Korean culture.

“As a compendium of research on contemporary gugak, this book serves as both a guide and a resource. It is our hope that it will prove relevant and valuable to English-speaking general readers and academic researchers alike, while being actively utilized in educational and research settings both domestically and internationally,” Kim said.

The NGC has made this publication freely available for download on their website, ensuring wide accessibility to this valuable resource on Korean traditional and contemporary music.