JoongAng Ilbo

JoongAng Ilbo (English: The Central Times) is a South Korean daily newspaper published in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the three biggest newspapers in South Korea. The paper also publishes an English edition, Korea JoongAng Daily, in alliance with the International New York Times.

History

It was first published on September 22, 1965 by Lee Byung-chul, the founder of Samsung Group which once owned the Tongyang Broadcasting Company (TBC). In 1980, JoongAng Ilbo gave up TBC and TBC merged with KBS. JoongAng Ilbo is the pioneer in South Korea for the use of horizontal copy layout, topical sections, and specialist reporters with investigative reporting teams. Since April 15, 1995, JoongAng Ilbo has been laid out horizontally and also became a morning newspaper from then on.

Korea JoongAng Daily

The Korea JoongAng Daily is the English language version of the newspaper, and it is one of three English-language daily newspapers in South Korea, along with The Korea Times and The Korea Herald. It runs mainly news and feature stories by staff reporters, and some stories translated from the Korean language newspaper. The Korea JoongAng Daily is currently sold together with the International New York Times.

Sumi Jo

Sumi Jo (Korean pronunciation: [tɕo sʰumi]; born 22 November 1962) is a Grammy Award winning South Korean lyric coloratura soprano known for her interpretations of the bel canto repertoire.

Early life and education

Jo was born Jo Su-gyeong [tɕo sʰuɡjʌŋ] in Seoul, South Korea. Her mother was an amateur singer and pianist who had been unable to pursue her own professional music studies due to the political situation in Korea during the 1950s. Determined to provide her daughter with opportunities she never had, Jo's mother enrolled her in piano lessons at the age of 4 and later voice lessons at the age of 6. As a child, Jo would often spend up to eight hours a day studying music.

In 1976, Jo entered the Sun Hwa Arts School from which she graduated in 1980 with diplomas in voice and piano. She continued her music studies at Seoul National University from 1981 to 1983. While studying at SNU, Jo made her professional recital debut, appeared in several concerts with the Korean Broadcasting System, and made her professional operatic debut as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro with Seoul Opera.

Music

Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound and silence. The common elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics (loudness and softness), and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture (which are sometimes termed the "color" of a musical sound). Different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. Music is performed with a vast range of instruments and with vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping, and there are solely instrumental pieces, solely vocal pieces and pieces that combine singing and instruments. The word derives from Greek μουσική (mousike; "art of the Muses"). In its most general form, the activities describing music as an art form include the production of works of music (songs, tunes, symphonies, and so on), the criticism of music, the study of the history of music, and the aesthetic examination of music. Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such as "the harmony of the spheres" and "it is music to my ears" point to the notion that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, "There is no noise, only sound."