Hwang Byungki (31 May 1936, in Seoul – 31 January 2018)[1] was the foremost South Korean player of the gayageum, a 12-string zither with silk strings.
[2] In 1951, he began playing the gayageum at The National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts in Seoul, where he studied under the renowned gayageum masters Kim Yeong-yun (김영윤), Kim Yun-deok (김윤덕), and Shim Sang-geon (심상건).
In 1964 he traveled around the world to Europe, the United States, Japan, and Southeast Asian countries, giving gayageum performances in each place.
Ranging in style from the evocation of traditional genres to avant-garde experimentation, a selection of these pieces is available on a series of five albums.
Hwang served on the government's Cultural Properties Preservation Committee, and in 2000 was appointed to the National Academy of Arts.