The 35th Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music was held at the Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center in Yilan County on Aug. 31, presenting 19 awards to outstanding performers from across the country. Musicologist Loh I-to (駱維道) and theater scholar Chiu Kun-liang (邱坤良) were honored with Special Award for their dedication to traditional arts.
Loh I-to is a veteran ethnolomusicologist who has devoted his life to research on Taiwanese, Hakka, Indigenous, and Asian music, in addition to creating more than 300 hymns.
Chiu Kun-liang has been engaged in Taiwanese opera studies for over half a decade, significantly impacting the development of the art. Apart from being a scholar, he is also a writer, playwright, and theater director.
This year, National Symphony Orchestra’s “Heritage and Hopes – A Tribute to Jiang Wen-ye (傳承與展望－江文也紀念專輯)” won Best Art Music Album; Taipei Chinese Orchestra’s “Origin (源)” won Best Traditional Album; Voco Novo’s “Goza Goza (古早古早)” won Best Crossover Album; and Shiu-Kim Taiwanese Opera Troupe won Best Performance of the Year with “Tears of the Phoenix (鳳凰變).”