Mengelberg Meets Korea

In October 2022, South Korean drummer Sun Mi Hong and Scottish trumpet player Alistair Payne lead the NAJ supported and developed project “Mengelberg Meets Korea”, which connects the South Korean and Dutch music scenes and centers around cultural bridge building and education. The project was organized in collaboration with DutchCulture and is part of celebrating 60 years of diplomatic relations between South Korea and the Netherlands. Sun Mi Hong (drums), Alistair Payne (trumpet), Benjamin Herman (alto sax) and Ernst Glerum (bass) brought the music of Misha Mengelberg to South Korea, performing and teaching together with South Korean musicians SunJae Lee (alto saxophone) & Youngwoo Lee (Piano).

More about SunMi Hong:

Born and raised in In-Cheon, Korea; Sun-Mi has a unique perspective of life after her last ten years in Amsterdam. With a signature of rooted groove in combination with well tempered outbursts, Sun-Mi has placed herself strongly in the Dutch jazz scene. By approaching the moment in a somewhat meditative fashion, she achieves the ability to bring something entirely original to the band stand. Her last album ‘A Self-Strewn Portrait’ (ZenneZ Records) has won the prize of the Edison Award 2021 in the National category. She is the winner of the Dutch Jazz Competition 2018 and won 2nd Prize at the Getxo International Jazz Competition 2017 (Sun-Mi Hong Quintet), She just released a new album with her quintet on Edition Records on the 18th of November 2022.