An intimate live music experience where opera, musical theatre, pop, R&B, Korean crossover and tango meet around the piano.

Featured artists

• Soprano: Soyeon Shin, Sophia Jin
• Global Pop Artist: QoA

Featured musicians

• Piano: Leah Park
• Violin: Sophia Jin

Other performers

• Stanely Dubentru-huret
• Henry Chandler

What happens when opera meets R&B, musical theatre meets Korean tradition, and tango meets contemporary pop, all brought together through live piano and violin in one intimate London venue?

Royal Serenade is the first edition of STAGE FEVER, a new live performance series presented by EMMA ENM, bringing artists, genres and audiences together through unexpected musical encounters.

Set inside the intimate atmosphere of Piano Smithfield, Royal Serenade journeys from classical opera and musical theatre to contemporary R&B, Korean crossover and tango, connected by one universal theme: Love in all its forms. Longing. Desire. Falling in love. Remembering someone. Losing someone. Finding the courage to love again.

At the heart of the evening are the piano and violin; two musical voices connecting each world and shaping the emotional journey of the performance.

Rather than a traditional single-genre concert, Royal Serenade unfolds as a continuous journey through contrasting styles and emotions, with live piano and violin moving seamlessly between classical repertoire, musical theatre, contemporary pop and Korean crossover.

Live vocals, piano, violin, movement and performance come together to transform each musical moment into something intimate, immediate and theatrical.

Expect Puccini alongside contemporary R&B, musical theatre alongside Korean Arirang, and an evening that gradually moves from delicate storytelling and romantic piano and violin into rhythm, movement and tango.

“What happens when the mask you wear online becomes the person you can’t escape in real life?”

“And What happens your online persona causes a collision in your physical reality and your family?”

“What are you going to do if that triggers the issues you’ve been ignoring for years?”

Cho is a university student living a double life. To his father in South Korea, he is a dedicated son on the verge of graduation. To his thousands of anonymous subscribers, he is a rising far-right provocateur.

With his father arriving in London for their first meeting in 15 years, Cho’s carefully curated world begins to fracture. When a “doxing” attack exposes his identity during a live stream, the digital vitriol spills into the physical world. Stalked, threatened, and cornered, Cho must navigate a collapsing web of lies before his father discovers the truth.

Blending autobiographical elements with a gripping fictional narrative, Language of Joe and Cho is an intense one-actor exploration of digital radicalisation, familial duty, and the violent collision between our online personas and physical reality.

Written and performed by Dong-Hyun Lim
Directed by Woogie Jung
Designed by Rui

3 August, 9pm
4 August, 3pm

The highest-grossing Korean horror film of all time arrives at FrightFest. A road-view filming crew is sent to a remote reservoir to reshoot footage previously deemed unusable due to unexplained visual distortions. Led by Su-in, the team documents the surrounding roads and landscape, but during a routine review of the recordings, they notice unfamiliar figures and unsettling details that none of them recall encountering while filming. Investigating further, they learn the reservoir is linked to a past crime and that something dreadful is rumoured to lurk beneath the surface. For once you enter Salmokji, you may never get out alive…

Friday 28 August, 11am | Sunday 30 August, 4pm
Salmokji: Whispering Water (살목지, 2026, 95 mins)
Director: Lee Sang-min | Cast: Kim Hye-yoon, Lee Jong-won.

Also, to celebrate the theatrical release of

• Colony (premiering at Frightfest on Thursday 27 August, 8:15pm), there’s a mini-retrospective of Yeon Sang-ho’s work including the seminal
• Train to Busan (Friday 28 August, 8:30pm | Sunday 30 August, 1pm) and its animated prequel
• Seoul Station (Saturday 29 August, 8:35pm | Monday 31 August 11am)

Direct from the Cannes Film Festival, the highly anticipated zombie shocker sensation from Yeon Sang-ho, director of SEOUL STATION, TRAIN TO BUSAN and PENINSULA. Professor Se Jeong attends a biotech conference, only to witness it spiral into catastrophe when a rapidly mutating virus is accidentally unleashed, infecting attendees within minutes. As the outbreak spreads and the infected begin to undergo disturbing physical transformations the authorities seal off the entire facility. But a small group of survivors struggle to navigate the confined spaces overrun by evolving threats. And as tension rises among the trapped, a desperate race against contamination and time begins.

Yeon Sang-ho’s latest movie, Colony, gets a UK theatrical release on 28 August. Exact locations and other details tba

Anton Hur and Lee Seong-bok will be appearing at the Edinburgh International Book Festival to celebrate the publication of Lee’s That Summer’s End – translated by Hur:

Anton Hur & Lee Seong-bok: That Summer’s End

Regarded as one of South Korea’s most influential poets, Lee Seong-bok is the author of eight extraordinary poetry collections and numerous other works, including Indeterminate Inflorescence, his acclaimed book of aphorisms which boasts fans including the members of K-Pop megahit band, BTS. It’s a real honour to welcome Seong-bok to the Festival, talking about his intoxicatingly beautiful new work, That Summer’s End, alongside Anton Hur, the International Booker Prize-shortlisted translator of the collection. Chaired by Andrew McMillan.

Thu 20 Aug 2026, 13:30 – 14:30 @VenueNW | Book tickets

The previous day, Anton Hur joins a conversation on the challenges of literary translation:

Polly Barton, Daniel Hahn & Anton Hur: In Other Words

How does a book survive a journey between languages? Three exciting literary translators and writers join forces for a lively chat about their craft. Polly Barton (Butter, Hunchback), Daniel Hahn (A General Theory of Oblivion, Pelé: The Autobiography), and Anton Hur (Cursed Bunny, Love in the Big City) unpack why human translation still matters in an age of AI and how translation is more than a bridge between cultures: it’s a creative act in its own right. Chaired by Adam Biles.

Wed 19 Aug 2026, 12:15 – 13:15 @Courtyard Theatre | Book tickets

Indulge your passion for K-pop without the expensive tickets and the long queues. ATEEZ will be appearing in a cinema near you in August. ATINYs will need no further encouragement, but for everyone else here’s the synopsis taken from the ateezincinemas.com website:

One day, a mysterious message arrives for ATEEZ, who had been spending a peaceful time in their hideout. At that moment, everything began to change.

ATINY has vanished… As if under a spell, ATEEZ wanders through a dreamlike wasteland, into a collapsing world engulfed in flames, and the Dark City veiled in dense fog. Pursued by an unknown force, ATEEZ begins to fight back to find ATINY.

Experience an intense immersion where every second counts with INCEPTION, an explosion of freedom and energy in the global hit BOUNCY (K-HOT CHILLI PEPPERS), and the pinnacle of refined charisma with Ice On My Teeth, now reimagined for the big screen.

The world-class cinematic VR concert that captivated audiences around the globe has been fully refitted for cinemas, bringing ATEEZ’s electrifying performances to life on the largest stage of all. And for the first time ever, go beyond the concert with exclusive never-before-seen behind-the-scenes footage, available only in this cinema release.

A story that’s completed only when we’re together. ATEEZ now invites you to another dimension. See you on the big screen.

4482 SASAPARI are pleased to present the second artist talk of 2026, held in conjunction with the opening exhibition of Gachi (가치/같이): Surroundings and Companions.

Join us for The Sense of Space: Why It Matters in My Practice, an artist talk with Hongil Yoon, a London and Seoul-based artist.

Hongil Yoon is a London and Seoul-based artist who graduated Royal College of Art MFA (2025) and Glasgow School of Art First Class Honours recipient, Yoon won the J D Kelly Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the 2025 Global Creative Graduate Showcase. Notable exhibitions include solo shows at SaltSpace Cooperative and group showcases at Oxo Gallery, Hypha Gallery, and the RCA.

Yoon’s practice explores isolation and the loss of identity through ambiguous memory. His work examines the tension between collective external forces and individuality, particularly within marginalized identities, constructing new sensory strata through geometric and dynamic forms.

Through this talk, Hongil will share the ideas and experiences that shape his practice, exploring how memory, identity, and isolation are translated into geometric forms and immersive spatial experiences.

We warmly invite you to join us for this intimate evening of conversation and reflection within the setting of our exhibition space.

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Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with the artist’s practice.

Artist: Hongil Yoon
Moderator: Hyeryoung Jun
Date: Tuesday, 11 August 2026
Time: 7:00 – 8:00pm in London Time
Venue: Café 63 High St., 63 High Street, New Malden KT3 4BT
This session will be held in English.

Join the KCCUK for a special screening of To the Last Day (1960), accompanied by a pre-screening lecture by Dr Hyunseon Lee (PhD, Habil.), Professorial Research Associate at SOAS, University of London, celebrating the publication of her books Korean Film and Festivals (2022) and Korean Film and History (2023).

Shin Sang-ok’s masterful portrayal of a family coping with the realities of the Korean War won the Special Jury Prize at the 1962 Berlin International Film Festival.

Captain Kim is grievously wounded in the first days of the war. When the northern troops continue their advance, his wife and small daughters flee south to Daegu, dragging him along in a sledge. His wife struggles to keep herself and their surviving daughter alive. Working as a market trader, she meets a kind young man — who happens to be tall, dark and handsome.

This is the most difficult film Shin Sang-ok tackled in his long and varied career. Questions of wounded veterans – in this case, one who will certainly father no more children — the fate of refugees, and the hardships of war widows are presented in melodramatic fashion. That doesn’t really seem to blunt the realism and shock of what the characters endure.

As last year the Wimbledon Book Fest is collaborating with KCCUK to present a mini Korean strand in the festival. The festival also includes a screening of Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice. And Korean Dancheong decorative traditions – together with Pakistani Truck Art – inspires the colourful visual identity of the festival this year.

Miye Lee on Healing Fiction

Saturday 17 October 2026, 1:00 pm | £ 12.50 | @Wimbledon Library | Book tickets

One of the writers at the heart of the genre discusses the rise of Korean healing fiction, the lives of her characters, the work of translators, and the deep human appetite – wherever we live – for stories that make space for kindness.

Miye Lee is the author of The Dallergut Dream Department Store, the magical-realist phenomenon that has sold millions of copies worldwide. Her shop, where dreams are bought and sold, has become the defining image of the healing-fiction boom.

Ela Lee, Defne Suman & Catherine Cho

Sunday 18 October 2026, 5:30 pm | £ 12.50 | @Wimbledon Library | Book tickets

The stories families keep, the histories that shape us, and the long reach of the past are up for discussion in this event which explores how fiction can give voice to what goes unspoken across generations.

Defne Suman talks about her epic story, The Last Apartment in Istanbul, that weaves its way across seven decades of an ever-changing Istanbul. Catherine Cho presents her debut novel The Devoted, an emotionally transportive story of family and fate in which a young Korean woman becomes entangled in the world of a notorious crime organisation. Ela Lee brings Minbak, a sweeping story of three generations of women crossing continents in search of truth, forgiveness and a hidden piece of South Korean history.

‘The past is never dead. It’s not even past.’ – William Faulkner

Film Screening- No Other Choice

Friday 23 October 2026, 7:30 pm | £ 12.50 | @Rutherford Theatre, Wimbledon High School | Book tickets

The leading Korean director Park Chan-wook is known for using black humour for brutal subject matter. This film uses dark satire to focus on a man’s love and need for his job, going to any lengths to stay in his profession, in this case the paper industry when AI is looking to replace him.  It was nominated for both the Golden Globes and the Oscars.

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You might also find Korean feminist issues discussed in the following session:

Tahmima Anam & Megha Mohan: Stories of Female Empowerment

Saturday 24 October 2026, 2:00 pm | £ 15.00 – £ 18.50 | @Rutherford Theatre, Wimbledon High School | Book tickets

This inspiring conversation brings together two authors that imagine and confront through fiction and non-fiction what happens when women challenge the structures that seek to contain them.

Megha Mohan, BBC global correspondent, has gone in search of feminist movements from South Korea to elder women co-housing in Paris and the Rain Queens of South Africa. She is joined by Tahmima Anam, author of the Bengal Trilogy, whose searing new novel Uprising inspired by the real women of Banishanta, Bangladesh turns collective resignation into ferocious revolt on a desolate, sinking island.

Britain’s exciting, on-the-rise band dearALICE are primed in 2026 to show the global music scene what happens when talent and work ethic meets opportunity.

dearALICE comprises Dexter Greenwood, Olly Quinn, Reece Carter and Blaise Noon, brought together through BBC One’s Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience. The six-part series followed the UK group as they spent 100 days training in South Korea with SM Entertainment, the K-pop powerhouse behind aespa, NCT DREAM and RIIZE. “Having that exposure to so much amazing culture and industry experience early on was very influential in how we’ve developed as a band,” says Blaise.

Although passionate about K-pop, dearALICE are clear: “We’re a British boyband with global influences and a global team behind us.” Developed by SM Entertainment, Kakao Entertainment and gamma, the London-based group draw inspiration from UK street style.

Their name came from a restaurant in Itaewon where they ate before their first live performance. “The more we talked about calling ourselves dearALICE, the more we loved it,” says Dexter, while Olly later suggested ALICE could stand for “A Love I Can’t Explain.”

Following debut single “Ariana” and EP bitterSWEETsummer, the band return with explosive new anthem “Body On,” featuring Japan’s Sweet Revenge and Canada’s Enola Bedard. “It’s a combination between the more masculine-leaning energy of dearALICE and the feminine edge brought by our collaborators,” they explain.

More genre-bending music follows with “Animal” and “Home With You.” Individually, the members bring backgrounds spanning the BRIT School, Urdang Academy, Durham Chorister School, musical theatre, modelling, cruise ship performance and performing arts training—forming a group whose personalities and influences are as distinctive as their sound.

The talented and entertaining Lee Young Ji is finally back in Europe with her solo tour! With her new side that you’ve never seen before with “LEE YOUNG JI VERSION 2.0”. The solid roaring voice and incredible energy will captivate your heart. Forget the old Lee Young Ji because she’s no longer becoming; she has arrived! See how the 2.0 version of Lee Young Ji shakes the stages! And it’s going to be the best night you’ve ever experienced!

Admission Times (subject to change):

17:00 doors for VIP tickets.
17:20 doors for Priority / Early Entry tickets.
18:30 doors for General tickets.
19:00 SHOW STARTS
21:30 VIP Meet & Greet Event / Photo Session starts.

Young Posse land in London on 25 October, bringing their off‑beat, hyper‑textured pop to Scala for a one‑night stop on their first European tour.

Since debuting under DSP, the group have carved out a niche with their tongue‑in‑cheek aesthetic, quick‑fire choreography and a sound that gleefully bends genre rules. Their Scala appearance is set to showcase the group’s growing confidence and the playful, slightly anarchic charm that has made them one of the most talked‑about new acts in K‑pop’s experimental wing.