Song So-Hee is our feature for this week’s Ode To The Artist. She’s a traditional Korean singer, mainly in the gugak and minyo style.
She started her career by competing and eventually winning the KBS National Singing Contest in 2008, when she was only 11. It made her the youngest Grand Prize winner in history of the competition. It also immediately made her a national treasure.
Song started taking singing classes at the age of five and eventually studied under masters Park Seok-sun and Lee Ho-yeon.
Here’s an interview from when she was 14.
In 2010, the Korean government named her the ‘Best Korean of The Year’ which is a huge honour. She also got to perform ‘Arirang’ at the Winter Olympics in Seoul.
So-Hee has almost seventy songs out and manages to make classic songs feel fresh and new. Her voice is just out of this world.
Just take a look at this video from 6 years ago. This is such an interesting video because in the middle of the song she switches to Jazz singing and it’s absolutely fabulous.
‘Moon Halo’ remains one of my favorite songs by her. It might be partly because Ahn Ye Eun is credited as the writer and composer. The other part is definitely because of Song So-Hee’s beautiful, transcendent performance.
Song So-Hee definitely has an amazing future ahead of her. Her voice shines in the traditional music scene. Go ahead and check out her Spotify and her Instagram.
The last song I want to share with you is her cover of ‘Spring Day’ by BTS. It’s utterly heartwrenching.
