The Taiwan Music Institute has invited music troupes spanning five Taiwanese generations to perform at "Sounds From Across Generations — 2019 Series of Authentic Ethnic Music in Taiwan," a six-concert program that will take place from June through September, to honor the diversity of Taiwan's ethnic music.
Since the institute rolled out the concert series for the first time in October 2017, 15 performances have been staged based on what the institute had studied and gathered with an ongoing music research project that was launched before the concert series was initiated.
Planning of the annual concert series also takes into account community empowerment. Over the years, the performances have ranged from indigenous music and Nanguan and Beiguan music to Hakka music and Hokkien folk songs.
All the concerts begin with an introductory video that offers a historical profile of the genre that audience members are about to listen to. Then come the performances by troupes across five generations, from children and teens to elders in their 40s and 50s, depicting "voices of the generations" and elevating them to the limelight at each concert.
For the 2019 series, the institute has organized six showings involving over 100 performers and producers:
On June 15, indigenous performers from the Thao Cultural Development Association (魚池鄉邵族文化發展協會) in Yuchi Township and a mashtatun (the Thao ritual for making music with mortar and pestle) class in Nantou County will pound out the tribe's stories.
On June 16, Ming Hsing Guzheng Ensemble (明心箏樂團), Ming Hsing Shaoyue Ensemble (明心韶樂團), and Lily Dance Troupe (劉麗麗舞蹈團) will perform works created by Guzheng master Liang Tsai-ping (梁在平).
On June 22, The Flying Fish Troupe (飛魚文化展演隊) comprising indigenous Tao children from the outlying Orchid Island will perform Tao songs under the theme "Lullaby of the Ocean."
On June 23, veteran musicians of traditional Chinese music, Chai Found Music Workshop (采風樂坊), Chinese Music Department of National Taiwan University of Arts, as well as traditional Chinese music troupes from Taipei Municipal Jeishou Junior High School and Taipei Municipal Kuangfu Elementary School, will perform classic and contemporary compositions.
On Sept. 28, a symphony concert will play Taiwanese folk music and pop songs created or gathered by the late Taiwanese musician Hsu Shih (許石) in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of his birth.
On Sept. 29, a troupe from the indigenous tribe of Hla'alua will perform ancient ritual songs and traditional dances for the tribe's grand miatungusu ritual (聖貝祭) for worshiping takiiaru (聖貝), sacred shells representing a collective of holy spirits and ancestral beings. This tribe was recognized by the government as Taiwan's 15th indigenous group in 2014, and audience members will be able to learn more about the Hla'alua from the performance.