About the Artists

Ms. Rami Seo is an accomplished gayageum artist whose expansive musical repertoire on the 12-string and 25-string gayageum spans the traditional and the contemporary to include ancient Korean court music and folk music, as well as current and cross-cultural compositions from across the globe. Born and bred in Seoul, Korea, Ms. Seo is the protégé of world class maestros and several of Korea’s most revered National Cultural Living Treasure title-holders. She graduated from the prestigious National Music School and National High School for Traditional Arts with full scholarships and top honors. In 2002, she was Class Valedictorian at Chung-Ang Univ., College of Korean Traditional Performing Arts, where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Korean Traditional Music and Music Education. With an impending Master’s Degree in Ethnomusicology from Hunter College, Ms. Seo is a bona-fide scholar, musician, and performance artist.

Winner of multiple performing arts competitions, Ms. Seo has graced many renowned stages throughout the United States, Panama, Nicaragua, China, Korea and Japan, both as a soloist and in collaboration with other famed artists. Major works include performances at the National Grand Theater of Korea, Korean Traditional Orchestra of Seoul, Korean National Orchestra for Traditional Music, Chung-Ang Orchestra, 1988 Seoul Olympics Anniversary Commemoration, Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project for World Music, World Music Virtuosi Concert at Lincoln Center, UN, Isaac Stern at  Carnegie Hall, Korean Embassy, Korean Cultural Service, Asia Society, The Korea Society, National Folk Festival in Richmond, Virginia, Futurism on the Occasion of the 100th Anniversary of Marinetti’s Manifesto, Symphony Space, The Kennedy Center, Bryant Park, Time Square, Smithsonian Museum, Museum of Arts and Design, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Conon House in the White House.

To date, Ms. Seo has released several albums and singles including First Morning, Fallen Leaves, Kaya Song with Fred Ho  and her Asian Jazz Fusion Concert recording in collaboration with the Jeff Fairbanks Jazz Orchestra. A passionate and inspiring instructor, she is a frequent guest speaker and lecturer at local schools, colleges, cultural workshops and events. Ms. Seo is also the founder and music director of GEMiNY, an emerging gayageum ensemble for young artists, and the ever popular band Rami Seo's project WORLD MUSIC ENSEMBLE.

Alhaji Papa Susso, Master kora (African harp-lute) player and oral historian from The Gambia, West Africa, conducts visits to schools, university campuses, and cultural centers in the United States and Canada.  Papa Susso hails from a long line of Griots (traditional oral historians) of the Mandinka people.  He was taught the kora by his father and has been playing since the age of five.

The kora, a 21-stringed harp-lute, evolved from earlier hunter harps used by the Mandinka people of West Africa. It is said to have been invented by the Susso family.  It is the preferred instrument of Mandinka Jalolu (Griot), itinerant musicians, who were traditionally attached to royal courts where their duties included recounting the tribal history and genealogy, composing commemorative songs, and performing at important tribal events.

Today Papa Susso is a goodwill ambassador, traveling North America to share his culture. He gives both classroom presentations and formal concert performances where he recounts the  history of his country and his people, discusses the roles of griots in West African culture, and performs the classics songs of the griot repertoire. Papa Susso He appears alone with his kora or with his ensemble that includes singer/dancer Tapa Demba, balafonist Bala Kouyate, and his son, Alhassan Susso, on second kora.