The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S., joined by the Washington Performing Arts, will co-sponsor a special April 19 concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, featuring Taiwan Philharmonic.
Founded in 1986, the Taiwan Philharmonic, also known as the National Symphony Orchestra back in Taiwan, has been hailed as one of the best orchestras in Asia. With some of the finest musical talent from at home and abroad, trained at top schools and international orchestras, the NSO enjoys a unique voice rich in diversity and tradition. Under the leadership of noted Germany conductor Jun Märkl as the artistic advisor since August 2021 and the music director since January 2022, the NSO aspires to resonate throughout the world as the cultural ambassador of Taiwan.
This program opens with the U.S. premiere of a new work, co-commissioned by Washington Performing Arts from Ke-Chia Chen, an international award winner, frequent collaborator with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and faculty member of the Curtis Institute of Music. The program then travels 6,000 miles and more than a century back in time with German Romantic composer Max Bruch’s ever-popular “Scottish Fantasy,” a work for violin and orchestra inspired by Scottish folk songs. Taiwanese-born Avery Fisher Career Grant honoree and much-adored Washington Performing Arts veteran Paul Huang joins the orchestra as violin soloist on the Bruch. Concluding the globe-trotting program are multiple works from the French classical repertoire, one of Maestro Märkl’s most celebrated specialties.
Program:
Ke-Chia Chen: Ebbs and Flows (World Premiere, co-commissioned by Taiwan Philharmonic Washington Performing Arts, and Muzik3 Foundation, Inc)
Bruch: Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46
Mendelssohn: The Hebrides Overture, Op. 26
Debussy: La Mer
Taiwan Philharmonic
Jun Märkl, conductor
Paul Huang, violin
Tickets for the performance can be purchased online through the website of the Kennedy Center:
https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/explore-by-genre/classical-music/2022-2023/wpa-taiwan-philharmonic/
National Symphony Orchestra’s touring schedule and more information:
https://npac-nso.org/en/concerts/doc-ghfjm942rv
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLo9vIlCWzNYdD48QZsr8foTkAa4XE0Zbt
