- Arirang TV to broadcast a documentary on Sound Trek, a multinational traditional Korean music band, this October

- September 18: First official domestic performance by Sound Trek at the 2025 Yeongdong World Traditional Music & Arts Expo

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister CHAE Hwi-young, MCST), in partnership with  the Korea International Broadcasting Foundation (Arirang TV), has formed the traditional Korean music band Sound Trek, consisting of musicians who are foreign residents in Korea, with the aim of sharing the unique appeal of Korean traditional sounds with global audiences through a journey of learning and performing gugak (traditional Korean music). A five-part documentary capturing the band’s formation and musical journey is to be produced and released to viewers at home and abroad this October.

Sound Trek is a gugak band composed of five accomplished musicians from Germany, Russia, Mexico, Mongolia, and Burkina Faso. With extensive backgrounds in professional music training and performance, the members will showcase a symphony of wind instruments (including flute and daegeum), keyboard (accordion), voice, strings (morin khuur), and percussion (djembe, janggu).

< Sound Trek Members > 

Selected through auditions in April, the members underwent five months of intensive training under the mentorship of some of Korea’s leading traditional music professionals, including former vocalist of the band Leenalchi Kwon Song-hee, gugak percussion master Jang Jae-hyo, and daegeum performer Baek Da-som. The culmination of their hard work was presented in their debut performance this past August in Uzbekistan. The band presented unique reinterpretations of Korean gugak classics Sarangga, Bukcheong Lion Dance, Gutpungnyu Sinawi, and Arirang Medley, where each piece was blended with the musical instruments of different countries.

Sound Trek will also make their first domestic appearance on September 18 at the 2025 Yeongdong  World Traditional Music & Arts Expo, the first-ever international expo dedicated to Korean traditional music. The stage will present a new repertoire of gugak shaped by international performance experiences and collaborations with local traditional music, creating a space where audiences come together through music.

The upcoming documentary on Sound Trek, capturing the band’s journey from auditions, and training to stage preparations and personal stories, will air worldwide on Arirang TV in late October. Preview clips of their activities are already available on the Arirang TV YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuWqIs1T7t_aaSLTQjy-1qinzNnhkwdgj.