ABSTRACT
In April 1997, the eminent Korean folk song vocalist Cho Kongnye (1930–1997) passed away. 1 While the death of the Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn (1948–1997) in the same year received worldwide attention (Schaefer 2000, 9), the demise of Cho went completely unnoticed except in Korea. As with most traditional Korean musicians, her death was virtually ignored; short obituaries appeared in a small number of Korean newspapers. This showed the unprivileged status of traditional Korean music performers. Despite their huge contributions in transmitting traditional music and developing individual artistic worlds, traditional Korean music performers in general have been neglected not only internationally but also by the Korean public in favor of artists who perform Western music. In the development of contemporary Korean music, however, traditional music still carries significant implications and potentials.
