Jongro of Gyeongseong during the colonial era was an important activity space for the people of Chosun. In Jongro, which was the border of tradition and modernity and had a clear division of space from Japanese living in Chosun under the Japanese colonial rule, the people of Chosun laid the foothold of ethnic, social, enlightenment, and cultural movements. Jongro especially became an important place for music that needed a performance space.
With the appearance of western music experts in various majors and the increase of Koreans (people of Chosun) who wished to enjoy western music, the demand for concerts started increasing from the 1920s as well. However, since there was no concert hall built in Gyeongseong at that time, most performances were held in multipurpose auditoriums such as the Young Men’s Christian Association Hall, Cheondogyo Hall, and Gyeongseong Public Hall.
Among them, Young Men’s Christian Association Hall received attention as the place of performances for the people of Chosun in Gyeongseong. Various events such as concerts, lectures, and gatherings were held in this hall, which played a pivotal role for cultural events in the 1920s, greatly contributing to Gyeongseong citizens’ cultural activities, and had a tremendous impact on the formation of Korean music culture.
This study illustrated an overall picture of modern urban experience through the concert attendance by the people of Chosun at that time, by analyzing different materials printed about the concerts held in The Young Men’s Christian Association Hall from 1920 to 1935. Especially, this study determined that the concerts in Colonial Chosun strongly reflected the desire of Koreans to change their life or modernize through concerts, as they were not allowed to participate in politics during the colonial era.