Korean Performing Arts Institute of Chicago

The Korean Performing Arts Institute of Chicago (KPAC) is a community-based cultural and educational organization dedicated to developing and promoting the Korean performing arts. Traditional cultural and performing arts are dynamic components of contemporary life and are essential to both local communities and global networks of societies. Global Pungmul Institute engages with multiple communitie

s across the globe to develop and promote traditional Korean cultural and performing arts and to nurture leadership among youth so as to increase cross-cultural understanding and improve the human condition. As an organization with deep roots in Korean American communities as well as ties to Korea and to Korean communities globally, the Institute is particularly attuned to the ways in which individuals, communities, and societies are connected, and to the need to respect and appreciate difference while simultaneously building common ground. The Institute views traditional Korean cultural and performing arts as both inherently valuable in and of itself and an important medium for developing leadership among youth and building common ground by bringing together multiple communities to further mutual understanding. The Korean word “sori,” meaning “sound,” refers to the natural world: the sounds of thunder, rain, and wind, for example. The English word “beat” refers to the rhythms that people made by mimicking and articulating these sounds into musical patterns. Thus SoriBeat signifies the interaction and harmony of nature and people. The name SoriBeat reflects the mission of the Global Pungmul Institute. The name is a play on the Korean words “sori” meaning “sound” and “beat” meaning “light.” Thus the Korean meaning of SoriBeat is “sound and light.” Through sound, SoriBeat and the Institute seek to illuminate the world we live in and shine a light to build a better one for us all. The name SoriBeat reflects the engagement of Korean and American cultures that forms the unique heritage of Korean Americans. The joining of the Korean word “sori” and the English word “beat,” along with the double meaning of “beat” as Korean for “light” and English for “rhythm,” signifies the multicultural purpose of SoriBeat and the Institute in spreading traditional Korean cultural arts with the hope of contributing to cross-cultural understanding.