Running through November 5, the Thursday night concert series features ten artists spanning pansori, gayageum, sodo-sori, haegeum, geomungo, percussion, saenghwang, and piri. Jung, an accomplished master of the Dongcho-je Heungbo-ga, served as the opening act with a narrative that reimagines Nolbu's life, death, and reincarnation.
Reimagining Nolbu Through the Accumulation of Deficits
The narrative of 〈Eot:Park〉 begins after Nolbu’s death, as he stands at the threshold of the afterlife and chooses his next parents. In a satirical sequence, Nolbu reviews civil servant, medical, celebrity, and wealthy households before selecting a privileged background. Rather than framing Nolbu’s infamous cruelty as an innate moral failure, the production portrays his psychological bitterness as the result of accumulated emotional deficits and family pressures. As the eldest son in a wealthy household, Nolbu bears the weight of parental expectations, unending requests for help from his impoverished younger brother Heungbo, and repeated demands for self-sacrifice.
According to the review, Jung’s adaptation introduces modern sensibilities—such as elder-sibling burdens and a lack of affection—into a 300-year-old traditional character, leaving the final judgment of Nolbu’s morality up to the audience. Musically, the performance utilizes a cyclical structure anchored by funeral bier songs (sangyeo-sori) from the Jeongeup and Goheung regions, collected through field research and historical preservation materials. Jung also restored the “Gagsa-i Taryeong” preserved by Master Kim Yeon-su, weaving regional folk sounds into a unified dramatic framework.
Artist Background and Traditional Lineage
Jung Sang-hee’s execution of the work relies on decades of rigorous training under prominent masters of traditional Korean music. Per biographical records, Jung began studying the Dongcho-je pansori styles of Heungbo-ga, Chunhyang-ga, Jeokbyeok-ga, and Simcheong-ga, alongside the Misan-je Sugung-ga, under Master Kim Myung-shin beginning in 1987. From 1997 onward, Jung studied the Dongpyeon-je Park Rok-ju style of Heungbo-ga, Sukyeong Nangja-jeon, and the Chae Jeong-rye version of Jindo Ssigim-gut under Master Chae Su-jung.
As a designated inheritor of the Jeonbuk Intangible Cultural Heritage for Dongcho-je Heungbo-ga, Jung has previously earned presidential prizes at the 2018 Imbangul Gugak Festival and the 2021 Republic of Korea Namdo Minyo Competition. Having completed five four-and-a-half-hour full-length performances of 〈Dongcho-je Heungbo-ga〉 and one eight-hour full-length performance of 〈Dongcho-je Chunhyang-ga〉 since 2011, Jung brings deep technical mastery to contemporary pansori composition.
Audience Engagement and Festival Outlook
The production actively broke away from the traditional, silent concert hall atmosphere by inviting audience members to shout traditional expressions of encouragement, known as chuimseo, and sing along with specific refrains.
Following the performance, a public talk moderated by committee member Cheon Jae-hyun explored Jung’s creative process, artistic career, and relationship with traditional accompaniment. The Surim New Wave 2026 festival continues weekly on Thursday nights, showcasing nine additional artists exploring boundaries within traditional Korean music.
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