Last week, the music and music video of the orchestra version of Red Velvet's popular song'Red Taste' was released. The orchestra version was arranged by Park In-young, a film music director who recently became an academy member, and was played by the Seoul Symphony Orchestra. Seoul Sihyang signed a business agreement for collaboration between SM entertainment and genre last month, and it is the result of the first collaboration since then.

This is the first time that Seoul Sihyang played K-pop. It is not uncommon for famous orchestras to perform popular music abroad. The famous example is that the Berliner Philharmoniker played the'wind of change' with the rock group Scorpions. The Royal Philharmonic of England enjoyed not only classical but also popular pop songs, and also released a recording of the orchestra version of the song from the UK's representative rock group Queen.

With the popularity of K-pop around the world, the chance to listen to K-pop played by orchestras is also increasing. Last year at the Lincoln Center in New York, the'K Factor' performance by the Juilliard School of Music Orchestra was held. Korean popular music history's masterpieces were introduced by period, and popular groups such as BTS and Red Velvet were performed as orchestra arrangements. The fact that K-pop became an orchestra's performance repertoire demonstrates its interest in K-pop beyond its genre.

The'Red Taste' played by Seoul City, led by Seoul City Vice-Director David Lee, retained the feeling of a refreshing and youthful original song, while taking advantage of the rich texture created by various instruments of the orchestra. The piano runs out with a cheerful feeling, and percussion instruments add to the excitement. The applause of orchestra members is also part of the performance. How did you interpret the rap part? Director Park In-young picked up the pitch of each lyric in the fast-paced rap section and expressed it as a woodwind and string instrument. Director Park In-young said that he chose this song because it showed'space' for arrangers in the original'Red Taste' song, but there was an interesting result with a different charm from the original song. Listen to the original song.

[▶Red Flavor Original] [▶Red Flavor Orchestra Version] As I

covered to write an article for SBS 8 News, I found out that SM Entertainment established a separate classic label and started collaborating with the classical field in earnest. In addition to bringing out popular songs from SM singers as an orchestra version, he is also planning various projects. I met SM Entertainment's CEO Lee Seong-soo (he is also the head of the production division that oversees music production) and listened to more detailed stories.
▶ [2020.07.18 8 News]'Red taste' from the Seoul city… K-pop meets Classic

Q. How did the'Red Taste' project start?
A. K-pop refers to comprehensive content from music and dance, to colorful costumes, stages, and music videos. In developing this K-pop content, the starting point was how to reflect the musical essence and values ​​of classical music more actively.

Sampling from K-Pop borrowed classical music, changed the main theme, and made music by changing the main theme, but did not stop here, more actively attracted the essence of classical music to create interesting and unique new contents. Wanted.

Q How did you hear about the'red taste' orchestra version?
A. At first, I was concerned about what would happen when I changed the dance music, which basically did not take into account the variation of the classic, into an orchestra version. How to express'beating', repeating dance beats and rhythms in orchestra, how to proceed to Mars, and how about the video, did it, director Park In-young, the arranger, Seoul City and SM officials, and even music video crews, It seems to have succeeded in making something new. This seems to have brought out great content that can be confidently presented to the public.

Q. Who are the'public' listening to this song?
A. Of course, fans of Red Velvet who originally liked'red taste' will be the first. In addition, there are some people who feel distant when it comes to'classic', but in fact, we receive classical education from a young age. When you enter elementary school, you are formally trained in music based on the progression of classical Mars, and often learn piano when you are young. So children and adults who grew up with classical music education may be interested. I believe that it will be a meaningful content for those who are interested in classical music itself, Korean classical music, and those who love Seoul.

Q. What other plans do you have in the future besides this'red taste' with Seoul Sihyang?
A. Like'Red Taste', I plan to create content that plays SM's hit songs by introducing classical, jazz, and other musical elements. There has been an experiment combining K-pop and classics. The K-pop performance performed by the Juilliard School of Music Orchestra at the Lincoln Center last year also received an explosive response. I would like to expand this attempt to spread new content that combines K-pop and classics all over the world.

Q. I also established a classic label called SM Classics. So, are you working with classic artists in earnest?
A. Yes. Already, pianist Moon Jeong-jae is an advisor to SM Classics No. 1 artist. In Korea, there are not many classical artists who are famous in the world and play well beyond Asia. One of the directions of SM Classics is to work in some way with outstanding classical artists from Asia and the world.

Q. The classical market is actually less popular than K-pop, but I am interested in SM making a classic label.
A. I prepared SM Classics for 3 years. 'Red taste' started with content that many people might be interested in to get a good start, but other projects are being prepared. Many people think it is boring to say classical, and the music market is small. Performances can only be seen by visiting the Sejong Center or the Seoul Arts Center. However, when looking for the musical roots of K-pop, it is closely related to classical music in harmony, rhythm, melody progression, composition of songs, variation, and so on. It's also a colorful variation of the characteristics of K-pop. I think the musical roots are all in classical music. I think Korean traditional music is also'classic' in a big category. It is a business that SM is doing as a music company to make sure'fundamental'.

Q. What kind of business can you do specifically?
A. There may be a business that uses classical music, education, or a classic chosen by K-pop companies. From our point of view, it was demonstrated through SM Station, and the response was good. I'm curious about why SM plays classical music and how to play it, and after watching it, I did it like this. From that point on, I think that the boundaries of classics have been broken.

From the operator's point of view, beyond thinking of applying K-Pop to classical music, I thought about the classical music itself and thought about future plans. A lot of preparations were made for classic artists and even collaborations with existing classic labels. I hope that people who are learning piano now, who love good music, and K-Pop fans all over the world will be introduced to even better music through SM. It may be classical music itself, or it may be a combination of K-pop, which means that you want to publish and announce one more really good content.

Q. I said that Korean traditional music is also classical. If so, are you considering Korean traditional music and collaboration?
A. Korean traditional music is not easy because it has a completely different scale and rhythm than Western music. But I want to try. In TVXQ's'Maximum' song, I've experimented with Korean traditional instruments such as gold or gong in the Jeonju part. When starting the classic business this time, based on this, will it be possible to actively engage in Korean traditional music and collaboration?

Q. SM was the first to try an online dedicated concert. Online performance surged with Corona 19, what is your future prospects?
A. Even at the end of Corona 19, the appearance of existing performances and concerts will change a lot. I think the meaning is greater than the bad. Online concerts use IT and artificial intelligence AR VR technologies, and compete with music and content while exerting countless tombstones. I feel the content is getting more noticeable. Even if the day comes again without any worry, the contents we experienced this time will affect the new era, the new normal. I think that new contents that combine newer and more diverse genres will be released. I have prepared for that.

We also made a classic performance as a music video, but we want to combine the senses of classical and K-pop into content that can appeal to the public, so we want to make it interesting, not just classic or K-pop. If many classical musicians in Korea and those in the classical music industry gain strength through our movement and create new content, would it be possible to create a market that was previously hidden or not? Can Korean classics create proud Korean music contents along with K-pop?

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Lee Seong-soo, a representative of classical music, is the'fundamental' and'root' of music. I did it several times. When asked if he usually listens to classical music, he said that his father majored in classical music and had many chances to get in touch with him since childhood. Aside from K-pop, he likes Chopin's piano music, especially Nocturne, and listens to religious music such as chants and choirs. After looking at the SM station after the interview, works such as pianist and composer Nikolai Capustine's piano quintet [▶ video] and fluteist and composer Gary Shocker's'Regrets and Resolutions' [▶ video] have been uploaded. They are all played by classical musicians. The song by Gary Shocker was uploaded in April 2016. We can see that SM's interest in this field is quite long.

The'Red Taste' music video filmed around the Sejong Center and the Seoul city practice room was cross-edited with an orchestra's performance scene and a scene where a curious boy was drawn to the'Red Taste' music and danced freely. It may seem as if he expressed the appearance of a curious boy suddenly falling into the unknown domain of'classic'. What kind of content will come out after'Red Taste' that a company with a popular K-Pop DNA does a full-fledged classical music business? How will it affect the existing classical music world? I become more curious.