Sunday Afternoon Music: Grace Beat’s Ecstatic Refuge

Trinity’s Sunday Afternoon Music series returns on Sunday, August 4, at 2pm in St. Paul’s Chapel with “Grace Beat’s Ecstatic Refuge.”

This lecture-recital features the Grace Beat Quartet, helmed by jazz pianist and composer Mina Cho, and explores how rhythmic traditions have offered refuge and resilience throughout human history, including our present moment of conflict, war, and post-COVID recovery. The hope is to create a space where listeners and artists alike can experience relief, joy, and excitement.

Blending traditional Korean music with jazz rhythms, the Grace Beat Quartet features Cho alongside bassist Max Ridley, percussionist Insoo Kim, and drummer Yeongjin Kim.

A reception will follow. Sunday Afternoon Music is presented by Trinity Congregational Arts Allegro.

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Mina Cho is a multifaceted scholar, jazz pianist, and composer who specializes in Korean music and history. She holds a faculty position at Emerson College and is a doctoral candidate in musicology at Brandeis University. She majored in theology at Yonsei University, graduated summa cum laude in film scoring and jazz composition from the Berklee College of Music, and earned her initial doctorate in jazz composition from the New England Conservatory of Music. Cho is director of Gugak Jazz Society, the founder of the International Gugak Jazz Institute, and music director of the Somerville Community Baptist Church.

Insoo Kim is a master percussionist who honed his skills in the samulnori instruments and received specialized training in Korean traditional percussion at the National Traditional Arts High School and Seoul National University. He earned a master’s degree in practical music from Dongduk Women's University's Graduate School of Performing Arts. He has collaborated with a diverse array of artists, both domestically and globally. Currently, Kim is a percussionist in the National Orchestra of Korea and serves as the percussion section leader of the Gugak Jazz Society.

Drummer Yeongjin Kim made his debut as a member of the “New Jazz Stars,” selected by EBS Space Gonggam in 2007, and then started his career after being recognized as one of the ”2010 Rising Stars 5” in the monthly magazine Jazz People. He was a jam session host at Club Evans Seoul, South Korea. Since then, he has performed jazz standards at various jazz clubs in Seoul. He has been a member of the Yun Seok Chul Trio for over 10 years and is an active participant in the jazz hip-hop group Kumapark.

Maxwell Salinger-Ridley is a musician, composer, and educator based in Boston. He was awarded full-tuition scholarships to Berklee College of Music for both his undergraduate and graduate studies and is currently one of the most in-demand bass players in New England and beyond. He teaches music as a guest lecturer at various colleges around New England, including the Longy School of Music, University of New Hampshire, Berklee College of Music, and the Hamilton-Garrett Music and Arts Academy. Ridley lives part-time in Valencia, Spain, which he considers his second home and musical community.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

St. Paul's Chapel, 209 Broadway, New York, United States