CNMAT hosts the Korean Experimental Music Festival at UC Berkeley (Nov. 11-16, 2025)

CNMAT welcomes musicians from the National Gugak Center in Seoul, along with the Del Sol String Quartet, for a festival that blends traditional Korean instrumentalists with emerging technologies. Don’t miss these concerts of new works shaped by deep intercultural dialogue and inspired by the enduring legacy of traditional Korean music. Premieres by UC Berkeley faculty composers, Jean Ahn, Edmund Campion, Cindy Cox, Ken Ueno, and graduate composers Mat Muntz and Dion Nataraja, alongside works by UC Santa Cruz faculty composers, Matthew Schumaker, Ben Carson, and David Evan Jones with UC Santa Cruz graduate composers, as well as a new work by Stanford professor, Jarosław Kapuściński.  The KEMF was born from a two-year collaboration between UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley (CNMAT and the Department of Music), and  Stanford (CCRMA).

Korean Experimental Music Festival 2025

(Del Sol Quartet photo AFW Productions and Chris Yeh, all others by permission)

Organizers

·       National Gugak Center, Seoul

·       University of California, Santa Cruz  

·       University of California, Berkeley

·       Stanford University

 

Festival Dates, November 11–16, 2025

(Ten performances across concert halls at UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, and Stanford)

All concerts are free and open to the public.

Musicians from the National Gugak Center Creative Orchestra

            piri — Chi-Wan Park, Kyu-Soo Lim

            saenghwang — Bo-Mi Kim

            daegeum — Pil-Ki Lee

            gayageum — Ji-Hye Lee, Se-Youn Park, Ji-eun Lee

Del Sol String Quartet — Charlton Lee, Hyeyung Sol Yoon, Benjamin Kreith, Kathryn Bates

Guest Conductor — David Milnes, UC Berkeley

Festival Overview

The National Gugak Center—Korea’s foremost institution for traditional music—joins forces with the Bay Area’s acclaimed Del Sol String Quartet to offer audiences a rare and resonant experience. The festival blends traditional Korean musical practices, Western classical instrumentation, and cutting-edge music technology in the world premieres of a dozen newly commissioned works by faculty and graduate-student composers from UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, and Stanford. Two concerts feature a first-of-its-kind ensemble pairing two gayageum—Korea’s zither-like plucked instrument—with a Western string quartet. In two additional performances, traditional Korean wind instruments—the piri, saenghwang, and daegeum—are transformed through real-time computer sound processing into striking electroacoustic sound worlds. The festival culminates a two-year collaboration among the National Gugak Center, the UC Santa Cruz Music Department, UC Berkeley’s Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT), and Stanford’s Department of Music and Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA). Don’t miss these concerts of new works shaped by deep intercultural dialogue and inspired by the enduring legacy of traditional Korean music.

Concerts 1–4 · University of California, Berkeley

Concert 1 (UC Berkeley) — Tue., Nov. 11, 7:00 p.m. · Wu Hall (125 Morrison Hall)

            Two Gayageum with Del Sol String Quartet — new works by UC Santa Cruz graduate composers Maisha Lani, Ben Dorfan, Michael J. Fleming, Nina Barzegar, Siamak Barghi, and Chris Everingham, along with Professor Ben Leeds Carson and Dr. Jinwei Sun.

Concert 2 (UC Berkeley) — Wed., Nov. 12, 12:00 p.m. · Hertz Hall (“Noon Concert Series”)

                  Premieres of new works written for KEMF by UC Berkeley faculty Cindy Cox, Edmund Campion, and Jean Ahn; and by UC Santa Cruz faculty Ben Leeds Carson.

Concert 3 (UC Berkeley) — Wed., Nov. 12, 4:00 p.m. · Wu Hall (125 Morrison Hall)

            Music for Traditional Korean Wind Instruments and Electronics Premieres by UC Santa Cruz Professor Emeritus David Evan Jones, and graduate students Mat Muntz, Dion Nataraja, and Michael J. Fleming. Produced by the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT).

Concert 4 (UC Berkeley) — Wed., Nov. 12, 7:00 p.m. · Wu Hall (125 Morrison Hall)

            Music for Traditional Korean Wind Instruments and Electronics (faculty composers). Premieres by UC Berkeley Professors Ken Ueno and Edmund Campion; UC Santa Cruz Professors Matt Schumaker and David Evan Jones; and Stanford Professor Jarosław Kapuściński.

 

Concerts 5-8 · University of California, Santa Cruz

 

Concert 5 (UC Santa Cruz) — Fri., Nov. 14, 5:00 p.m. · Music Center Recital Hall

            (Repeat of UC Berkeley Concert 1.)

                  Two Gayageum with Del Sol String Quartet — new works by Maisha Lani, Ben Dorfan, Michael J. Fleming, Nina Barzegar, Siamak Barghi, and Chris Everingham, with Ben Leeds Carson and Jinwei Sun.

Concert 6 (UC Santa Cruz) — Fri., Nov. 14, 8:00 p.m. · Music Center Recital Hall

            (Repeat of UC Berkeley Concert 2.)

             Premieres by Ben Leeds Carson, Cindy Cox, Edmund Campion, and Jean Ahn (UCB).

Concert 7 (UC Santa Cruz) — Sat., Nov. 15, 5:00 p.m. · Music Center Recital Hall

                  Music for Traditional Korean Wind Instruments and Electronics (graduate composers). Premieres by Michael J. Fleming, Mat Muntz, and Dion Nataraja. Produced by the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT).

Concert 8 (UC Santa Cruz) — Sat., Nov. 15, 8:00 p.m. · Music Center Recital Hall

                  Music for Traditional Korean Wind Instruments and Electronics (faculty composers). Premieres by UC Santa Cruz Professors Matt Schumaker and David Evan Jones; UC Berkeley Professors Ken Ueno and Edmund Campion; and Stanford Professor Jarosław Kapuściński.

 

Concerts 9-10 · Stanford University, CCRMA

Concert 9 (Stanford / CCRMA) — Sun., Nov. 16, 3:00 p.m. · CCRMA

                  Music for Traditional Korean Wind Instruments and Electronics (graduate composers). Premieres by Mat Muntz, Dion Nataraja, and Michael J. Fleming. Produced by the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT).

Concert 10 (Stanford / CCRMA) — Sun., Nov. 16, 7:00 p.m. · CCRMA

                  Music for Traditional Korean Wind Instruments and Electronics (faculty composers). Premieres by Stanford Professor Jarosław Kapuściński; UC Santa Cruz Professors Matt    Schumaker and David Evan Jones; and UC Berkeley Professors Ken Ueno and Edmund Campion.