The POSCO Music Concert is returning on the third Saturday of each month starting in February 2014 with a more enriched program.

Since December 1999, leading Korean artists, including K-pop stars, have performed at the POSCO Music Concert. Even singer Psy made an appearance at the POSCO Center in July 2012 to perform his hit single “Gangnam Style”, as did popular K-pop singer, Ailee, last September. Marking 156 performances and over 140,000 cumulative attendees, the concert has positioned itself as Korea’s leading corporate sponsored music concert.

Buzzwords for 2014: ‘Opportunity’, ‘Passion’ and ‘Challenge’

With the purpose of bolstering social contributions, the three POSCO Music Concert keywords this year are ‘opportunity’, ‘passion’ and ‘challenge’. Unique to previous years that mainly focused on well-known pop artists, this year’s lineup brings together a collaboration of talented new artists and famous musicians. POSCO aims to create more opportunities to support up and coming artists to fulfill their dreams and also to provide a cultural arts space for the wider community.

2014 Performance Lineup

The 2014 POSCO Music Concert will offer a range of genres to listen to, from classical to ‘indie’ music, and even drum performances. Concerts will be held on the third Saturday of each month from February through December (with the exclusion of August) at the POSCO Center 1^st floor Atrium. Those wishing to attend the POSCO Music Concert can request invitations from the POSCO website (www.posco.co.kr).

• February: The concert in February focused on the theme of ‘Openness, opportunity opened for everybody’ and featured Huh Gak, Gayageum Maidens and Mister Pa Pa.
• March: Focuses on the theme of ‘high spirits’ and features the 10^th anniversary of Richard Yongjae ONeilll and representative K-classic violinist, Zi A Shin.
• April: Focuses on the theme of ‘Full bloom, music concert to spread out dreams and hope’ and features young musicians that attend music schools in Seoul and their role model, conductor Geum Nan Sae.
• May: Focuses on the theme of ‘Challenge’ and features two artists that make the impossible possible – Korean ‘Paul Potts’  Seungil Kim and Yejoon Suh.
• June: Focuses on the theme of ‘Laughing flowers, music with laughter’ and features the Hamburg String Orchestra.
• July: Focuses on the theme of “Endless Passion, POSCO Auditions for Indiebands” and features a diverse range of indie bands.
• September: Focuses on the theme of “Opera that opens the heart”.
• October: Focuses on the theme of ‘A very special outing’ and features world renown pianist Yuhki Kuramoto, perfect vocalist  Areum Lee and gifted pianist Sangwoo Lee.
• November: Focuses on the theme of ‘mutual understanding’ and features witty poet, Sangwook Ha and singer Sikyung Sung.
• December: Entitled the ‘Thank you Concert’, this concert concludes the 2014 lineup and features Youngnam Cho and vocalist ensemble Rotina.

Speaking with the Man Behind the Scenes

We had a chance to sit down with POSCO’s concert organizer, Seung-Kyu Yoon, to hear about his experiences and thoughts while planning the lineup for 2014.

Why does POSCO regularly hold concerts at the headquarter lobby?

I think the biggest reason behind POSCO holding these cultural music events is to make social contributions through sharing. POSCO is one of Korea’s most loved companies and as such POSCO feels that they should give back to the community as well. In addition to holding concerts at the lobby of POSCO’s headquarters, concerts and other cultural events are hosted in Pohang and Gwangyang as well.

What is the most memorable moment you’ve had while planning or managing POSCO concerts?

When you ask a chef ‘when do you feel most satisfaction?’, they will most likely say it is the moment when they see their guests enjoying the meal that they cooked. Along those same lines, as the organizer for POSCO concerts, I feel the most fulfillment when I see concert goers enjoy the performances or when I hear them say ‘that was really good, I am so happy to have had this opportunity’. It is those moments that make me feel that the hard work I put in was worthwhile.

Who has been the most popular performer so far?

Each concert receives a lot of praise but I must say that to date, the concert where Psy and Ailee performed were the more popular ones. The concert featuring Psy was especially exciting because he performed his world hit single, ‘Gangnam Style’ right inside POSCO Center. Many viewers actually even stood up to dance his signature horse dance!

What has been the main focus for you as you have planned the 2014 concerts?

While planning the 2014 concerts, I’ve kept in mind to do my best in everything that I do. The 2014 lineup is unique from past years in that we are moving the spotlight away from artists you may have seen a lot on TV or at major concert halls and instead focusing on musicians that are very talented but have not yet had the opportunity to really shine yet. POSCO is creating an opportunity for these up and coming artists to stand on the same stage with stars that they look up to as mentors. Through these experiences, it is our hope that these young artists can fulfill their dreams and move one step closer to realizing their full potential.

If you could sum up POSCO concerts in one word, what would it be?

I think ‘mutual understanding’ might be a fitting word. Since 1999, POSCO has organized concerts to create a space for communication and mutual understanding. I hope that you continue to show interest in the concerts that POSCO provides for the general public. Thank you!

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How to Enjoy POSCO Center during POSCO Concerts

Spend some time exploring the fun public spaces in POSCO center during your visit to POSCO concerts.

• Steel Gallery: A fun experimental space where you can learn the history of iron and its various uses.

• Aquarium: A 9 meter high aquarium that runs from the basement to the first floor. It contributes to a unique space in the urban area where people can interact with nature and enjoy the likes of sharks, napoleon fish, and 70 other kinds of sea life.

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On November 17th of 2012 a jocular video was uploaded on Youtube: a parody of the famous “Gangnam Style” music video of the Korean singer (now a “world star”), PSY. The parody went viral rapidly, attracting more than 10,000 views in just two days. The video shows professors and students collaborating to create what’s called “POSTECH Style.” POSTECH University (a global leader in science and technology), who sets it priorities in high-quality and high-impact education and research, the institution often exhibits an intricate and a rigid vibe. At a place like POSTECH then, it is unimaginable that students with thick glasses and piles of books hovering over them can dance this good.

Click the image blow to watch “POSTECH Style” >>

So how did this video come about? Let’s take a listen to Professor Eu-Ho Seo from the department of Industrial Engineering, who was involved in both planning and featuring of the video, showing off his “classy” “horse dance.”

“PSY’s ‘Gangnam Style’ has established itself to be a world-class sensation, which reminded me of POSTECH’s outlook also as a growing world-class university. As the two compatibly fit, I was certain that the parody will provide for an opportunity to draw global attention on POSTECH.”

It was the professor’s strategy and the wittiness of the students were what made the POSTECH Style possible. Those who appeared as special guests were member of the POSTECH student clubs like soccer, basketball, cheer leading, tennis, and classical music, etc. Yet, the most contribution to the video was perhaps from ‘Ctrl-D’, the dance club crews who choreographed all the dance moves in the video and pulled off astounding break-dance moves all throughout the parody.

If we have a closer look at the video, we can find various sceneries and interesting parts of the POSTECH University. At the very beginning is the POSTECH Biotech Center, which was established with the collaboration of POSTECH’s outstanding researchers of Biotech studies and POSCO’s high technology. The center helped the development of national businesses and the improvement of human welfare. To put it easy, it’s a center for researching new vaccines in curing incurable diseases such as cancer and septicemia (blood poisoning). Another spot to note in the beginning of the video is the Jigok Pond, one of POSTECH’s most famous attractions for the cherry blossoms during spring flower season. Where the POSTECH girl alike Hyuna appeared to seduce PSY was at the Tae-Joon Park Digital Library, known for it’s a spectacular design which received the Architect Award of the year. You can also see POSCO International Center where POSCO holds international scholarly conferences with scholars from all over the world.

Students and professors hope this video may create global viral like PSY’s original Gangnam Style video, with good will and common purpose. Now, are you ready to shout?

“We’re POSTECH Style!”

The beginning of a rough journey, we’re in Nepal!-

We’ve finally boarded ourselves onto the plane for a volunteer trip to Nepal for three nights and four days. It’s a journey to promote and to check for on-the-spot inspection of the POCSO’s social contributive activity in the Nepali area. With a feeling of both anticipation and a bit of worry, we landed in Kathmandu Airport, which reminded us of rather a small-town bus stop at a remote countryside.

We’ve arrived at Dhulikhel Hospital, a local cooperation organization in late afternoon. Where we stayed was supposedly a “hotel,” but due to a blackout, most of our activities took place in pitch darkness. What’s more, we had to put on our thick jackets during sleep due to the bitter cold night winds. However, this was just the beginning of our rugged journey.

Solukhumbu village gets a Chimney-

On the first day, we started our volunteer at the village of Solukhumbu with Professor Su-Heon Cho on the residential development of the area such as building chimneys and braziers.

Soon we encountered an unpaved road, where our car shook disastrously rough. Furthermore, the end of the unpaved road—which was a single lane—was a cliff, making the situation even riskier when a local bus approached from the opposite direction. Finally, we were able to arrive at our destination in Solukhumbu village after driving for four additional hours.

We realized that it was the absence of exhaust facilities that filters harmful gases like Carbon Monoxide in the environment that use firewood for heating and cooking, which was causing lung problems to the local residents. The need for installing such exhaust facility was urgent. That is why what POSCO decided to support from this year was building chimneys. We’ve also attached a manual board, ‘POSCO Healthy Home,’ for the villagers to be informed. Knowing that the local people’s health may improve due to the chimneys we’ve built made our hearts warm.

An exciting time for Khimti people at our medical camp

The next day we traveled 130km to the village of Khimti for a medical volunteer. That’s a distance which takes about seven hours by car. After an endless driving of going up and down the hills several times, we could finally see the Himalayas covered with snow. We couldn’t help but to stop for a moment to gape at the sublime scenery of the Himalayas. Also along the way, we had to pause for herd of cows that were occupying the entire road. We had to wait for quite a long time until the herd would move by themselves, due to Hindu belief that regards cows as sacred animals in Nepal.

After a troublesome journey, we’ve arrived at Khimti village. The Khimti Outreach Centre, which was being used as a medical camp, was flooding with people who were in line to receive professional treatment. Both the Nepali and Korean medical teams spent a hectic time altogether.

While the medical team was busy with seeing the patients, I enjoyed spending time with the local children who came to visit the camp. We had lots of fun talking about the Korean star PSY, who recently became a world sensation and so on. The sound of innocent laughers and smiles of the children seemed to blow my stress away.

Namaste, see you soon, Nepal!

During four days of running the medical camp, total of 1600 local residents stopped by. The camp pulled off a huge attraction from locals, where some even walked all the way to the camp to receive their first medical treatment of his/her life. I believe that all this was possible thanks to the authenticity of the medical team who put their own expense to the work. If I could, I decided to be part of this again with my own expense in the future. Due to the weak conditions, the volunteer had to end in a tight schedule of only few days. However, the altruistic effort that our medical team has put in and the optimistic demeanors of the local people and the children, even in such deficient conditions, made the departing warm and meaningful. I offered a quiet goodbye gazing at the Himalayas behind me on the plane.