The organizing committee of the Jeonju World Sound Festival (hereinafter referred to as the Sound Festival, chaired by Ee Wong-jun) has selected one final team through the showcase program "Sound Frontier" of the new platform 'SORI NEXT,' which supports the domestic and international market entry of traditional music-based arts organizations and promotes work distribution and practical collaboration.

This year, the Sound Festival, selected as a festival for the '2025 Genre Market Hub Support Project' sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the (Korea Arts Management Service), newly launched 'SORI NEXT' and conducted various programs such as planning, open call showcases, talks, farm tours, and networking.

Among these, "Sound Frontier" was presented by expanding the scope of the Sound Festival's program, which had previously focused on discovering emerging artists, to help them enter the domestic and international markets. The final team selected is the 'Our Music Group Soak,' a team that aims to create popular music that is in line with the sensibilities of the modern era while preserving the essence of tradition.

After the public recruitment of participants in June, four teams were selected through the live audition on July 12. They then participated in a residency workshop called 'Super Week,' and during the Sound Festival period (August 13-14), they showcased their music to domestic and international experts and audiences through the 'SORI NEXT' showcase. Through this process, 'Our Music Group Soak' was finally selected.

The final judging was based on the scores of a panel of judges composed of domestic experts such as Cheon Jae-hyun, Sound Frontier Artistic Director, Kye Myeong-guk, Jarasum Jazz Festival Director, Lee Soo-jeong, DMZ Peace Train Music Festival Artistic Director, and international experts such as Vanessa Chen Weiyu, Program Coordinator at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, Rachel Cooper, Director of Asia Society, and Claudia Valdeli, Co-Founder of Ashe World Festa.

Cheon Jae-hyun, the Artistic Director, evaluated, "Soak's music has artistic completeness, expandability, competitiveness in the international market, and has the potential to resonate well on the world stage."

The finally selected 'Our Music Group Soak' will have the special opportunity to showcase overseas. They will have official debut performances in Europe, including a performance at the Hungarian Cultural Center in October for Hangul Day and at the Sofia Music Week in Bulgaria. This performance is expected to be an important stepping stone for Korean traditional music-based creators to enter the international music market as an achievement of the first year of 'SORI NEXT.'

Kim Hee-sun, Executive Director of the Sound Festival, stated, "Sound Frontier has established itself as a program that prepares for the 'next' of creators beyond artist discovery." She added, "Being selected as the final team, we hope 'Soak' will prove the new possibilities of Korean traditional music on the world stage."