Changjak gugak

Changjak gugak, 'creative traditional music', is the contemporary composition movement within Korean gugak in which new works are written for traditional instruments such as the geomungo and gayageum zithers, daegeum flute and janggu drum. Pioneered by composer *Hwang Byung-ki*, whose gayageum works of the 1960s and 1970s fused court and folk sources with modernist technique, it now spans minimalist composition, jazz and rock crossover. Ensembles such as *Black String*, *Jambinai* and *Geomungo Factory*, and soloists such as *Park Jiha*, perform it on international stages while remaining grounded in Korean rhythmic cycles and melodic modes.