“If Volcanoes could sing, then they would sound like Bae Il-Dong.” - John Shand, ABC Jazz

The Open Ears Festival, the Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty of Music and The Music Gallery will present Korean Pansori singer Bae Il-Dong and master drummer Kim Dong-Won in “IF VOLCANOES COULD SING”, a film screening and live performance on November 9, 2014, 7 PM, at the Music Gallery, 197 John Street, Toronto.

Bae Il-Dong spent 7 years alone in the mountains of Korea, sleeping in a hut, and singing every morning into a roaring waterfall for up to 18 hours a day – a traditional training regimen to develop the fearsome vocal strength that defines Pansori. Kim Dong-Won is a master drummer and vocalist, who in 1987 was incarcerated as a political prisoner for defiantly making music, and who now plays regularly with cellist Yo-Yo Ma as a member of his internationally acclaimed Silk Road Ensemble. They will present a live performance of “Song of Sim Cheong”, accompanied by English surtitles.

“Every pore of his being is devoted to expressing the deep emotion he feels for traditional Korean culture. Its philosophy, physicality and spirituality are organic to Dong-Won's art. It is an inspiration to make music with him.”

- Yo-Yo Ma, Cellist

Both were featured artists in Intangible Asset No. 82, a fascinating documentary about a jazz drummer’s search for an elusive Korean Pansori singer. Emma Franz’s 2009 film debuted at

the Sao Paulo International Film Festival in Brazil, where it was a finalist in the Audience Vote for Best Documentary. The film went on to win BEST DOCUMENTARY at the Durban International Film Festival in South Africa, BEST SOUND IN DOCUMENTARY at the 2009 AFI Awards Australia, and was voted runner-up for Most Popular Documentary at the Melbourne International Film Festival. It has screened in competition at some of the most respected film and documentary festivals, including AFI SilverDocs and South By South West in the U.S.A., Hot Docs in Canada, and others in places as diverse as Argentina, Japan, Chile, China, Korea, India, Egypt and Israel. It was shortlisted for the Cinema Eye Honors in the U.S.A.

VIDEO TRAILER LINK: bit.ly/asset82

The evening will begin with a special screening of Intangible Asset No. 82 at 7:00 PM and will be followed by the live Pansori performance at 8:30 PM.

This event was made possible with the assistance of the Musagetes Foundation.

Tickets ($30/20, $10 student rush with valid ID)