Jang Sa-ik’s “The Road,” capturing 30 years in music, to set Sejong Center alight this fall

[Financial News]  Folk singer Jang Sa-ik will present a performance bringing together 30 years of his musical journey at the Grand Theater of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul on the 27th.
According to the concert promoter Haengbogeul Ppurineun Pan on the 6th, Jang Sa-ik’s 2026 concert “The Road” will be held at the Grand Theater of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul on the 27th and at the Daejeon Arts Center on December 2.
Since his “The Road to Heaven” performance at the Grand Theater of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts on November 24, 1996, Jang Sa-ik has continued to honor his promise to audiences by returning to the same stage whenever he plans a new concert.
This concert is more than a simple look back. Conceived around the poem “The Road” by poet Kim Jun-tae, it will convey Jang Sa-ik’s distinctive, profound reflections on life, built around the theme of “losing one’s way among people, then finding it again among people.”
The concert will feature a large number of top-tier musicians who have performed together for anywhere from 10 to around 20 years, including Jung Jae-yeol (music director and guitar), Jung Young-joon (bass), Andy Kim (piano), Park Hyun-min (drums), and Jang Ho-jin (saxophone), as well as Choi Seon-bae (trumpet and harmonica), a first-generation Korean jazz musician; haegeum player Ha Go-un; and percussionists Go Seok-yong, Shin Seung-gyun, and Choi Young-ho. The a cappella group The Soilists and the Unico Choir will also join them, with plans to deliver a polished ensemble performance.
Meanwhile, last year, Jang Sa-ik collaborated with the Canadian big band The Toronto Jazz Orchestra to mark the 30th anniversary of his musical career and the Year of Mutual Cultural Exchange between Korea and Canada. Their relationship began with the recording of 15 of Jang Sa-ik’s signature songs arranged for big band in 2018–2019, but the concert was held later than planned due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jang Sa-ik performed with the 18-member orchestra, haegeum player Ha Go-un, and a four-member choir in a show blending traditional Korean sounds and jazz. It was the first large-scale jazz orchestra collaboration he had undertaken in his 30-year musical journey since his first performance, “The Road to Heaven,” in 1994.

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