Taipei, Sept. 7 (CNA) The Taipei Chinese Orchestra (TCO) will start its upcoming season honoring the legacy of two late Taiwanese composers, performing their music at the season's opening music concert this week.
At a press conference, TCO General Director Cheng Li-pin (鄭立彬) said the "Evolution. Song of Life" 2020/21 season opening concert, to be held Wednesday at the National Concert Hall in Taipei, will perform the classical pieces "Concerto for Bamboo Flute and Chinese Orchestra" and "Concerto in C, Op. 52 for Cello and Chinese Orchestra" by Ma Shui-long (1939-2015) and Hsiao Ty-zen ( 1938-2015), respectively.
A composer from the neo-romantic school, Hsiao won international acclaim for his Taiwanese folk song elements and his rich tonal style, which earned him an international reputation as "Taiwan's Rachmaninoff."
Meanwhile, Ma was known for integrating Eastern elements into Western classical music and celebrated as the first Taiwanese composer to have his music performed at the prestigious Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York.
"These two very important Taiwanese composers passed away in 2015 and five years later in 2020. We hope to use this concert to pay homage to the two great maestros," Lin said.
The concert is part of the 2020/21 season's Virtuoso Series, one of eight series that will be performed this season, Lin said.
Other series will include the Exquisite Series, featuring solo and chamber music by TCO musicians, and the TCO Star Series, which premiere commissioned concertos, the orchestra said in a statement.
Another feature of the TCO 2020/21 season is that all collaborations will be with Taiwanese musicians to help promote the country's talent, Cheng said.
"We hope that music lovers will support our talented Taiwanese musicians," Cheng said.
Collaborations include the "My Aside-Like Life" concert, held Dec. 5-6 at Taipei's National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, which will feature an all-star cast of popular Taiwanese singers and celebrities including Genie Chuo, Judy Zhou , and Kuo Tzu-Chien performing classic television program theme songs from the 1960s to the 1990s.
The TCO 2020/21 season will run until the middle of next year with acclaimed Taiwanese film director and screenwriter Wei Te-sheng serving as creative director for the season finale "Opera from the TCO Theater: Formosa Bloom,"
The full-stage opera will be performed June 26 and June 27 at the National Theater in Taipei, and also July 3 and July 4 at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying).
The TCO was founded in 1979 as Taiwan's first professional Chinese orchestra and performs numerous concerts for over 100,000 music lovers annually. The orchestra has also recorded more than 50 musical recordings to date.
