Passport Series: ADG7

With one foot in the world of tradition and another in glitzy upbeat pop, ADG7 (Ak Dan Gwang Chil) is a multi-award winning group featuring three powerhouse female folk singers and a rich repertoire inspired by Korea’s sacred, shamanic ritual music (gut) and beloved folk songs (minyo) of Hwanghae Province in the northern reaches of the Peninsula. Their powerful performances engage and immerse like no other, presenting the spiritual blessings and positive energy of traditional music in a thoroughly modern and often comical style.

ADG7 was organized in 2015, the year Korea commemorated its 70th anniversary of national liberation. By reconnecting with and reimaging shared Korean cultural roots, ADG7 expresses the true meaning of liberation and the desire for unification. The group’s recognitions include Best Group at the 2018 KBS Korean Traditional Music Awards and the Sori Frontier Award at the 2017 Jeongju International Sori Festival, plus recent performances at WOMEX (World Music Expo) 2019 and globalFEST 2020 as an official artists and as a grantee of Mid Atlantic Tours’ artist roster in 2021-2022.

“The nine-member ensemble presents itself not as earnest traditionalists, but as a giddy show band with all the trappings of K-pop — choreographed singers, candy-colored costumes and bouncy, upbeat, often swinging songs that link the concision of folk tunes to the catchy repetition of pop, with brash cymbals for drive and flute and zither lines for instrumental hooks.”  (The New York Times)

“There’s a flowering folk-roots revival in South Korea – but no band combines virtuosity, charisma, and pure energy like Ak Dan Gwang Chil” (WFMU)

This engagement of ADG7 is made possible in part through the Mid Atlantic Tours program of Mid Atlantic Arts with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.