Chinese Name: 陳中申
Born: 1956
Birthplace: Yunlin County (Central Taiwan)
Did You Know That…?
In 2008, Chen Chung-sheng began developing the semitone flute, for which he later secured patents in Taiwan and China. Renowned for his contributions to music education, he has received numerous accolades, including the Golden Tripod Awards, Golden Melody Awards, recognition as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons in 1992, and the National Award for Arts in 2019.
Born in Linnei Township (林內鄉), Yunlin County, Chen Chung-sheng is a composer, flutist, conductor, and educator. He studied at the Taiwan Provincial Taichung Normal School (省立臺中師範專科學校, now the National Taichung University of Education) and the Music Department of Soochow University (東吳大學). His mentors included Chen Tscheng-hsiung (陳澄雄) in Western concert flute, Lai Deh-ho (賴德和), Ma Shui-long (馬水龍), and Lu Yen (盧炎) in music theory and composition, and Hsu Sung-jen (徐頌仁) and Huang Hsiao-tung (黃曉同) in conducting.
In 1989, Chen founded the Taipei Classical Music Group (臺北絲竹室內樂團) and served as conductor for the Taipei Chinese Orchestra in 1992. In 2004, he joined the faculty of the Chinese Music Department at Tainan National University of the Arts. His notable reinterpretations include “Grasshopper Plays with the Rooster (草螟弄雞公)” and “Playing the Role of God (扮仙),” as well as his own creation “Chicken and Duck Talking (雞同鴨講).”
Unlike many musicians who begin training at an early age, Chen only started learning the flute at 15 when he joined the Chinese music society at the Taiwan Provincial Taichung Normal School. Under the mentorship of Chen Tscheng-hsiung, a distinguished flutist and conductor, he honed his musical skills despite financial challenges. To fund his education, he took on multiple jobs, including private tutoring and construction work. His mentor’s rigorous training laid a strong foundation, paving the way for his success.
Besides performing, Chen also composed several pieces featuring the Chinese flute. During the martial law era, he wrote “Prancing Horse Great Wall (躍馬長城),” a piece that aligned with the anti-communist sentiment of the time but also incorporated distinctive elements from Taiwanese opera.
In addition to serving as the conductor of the Taipei Chinese Orchestra, Chen achieved several milestones, including organizing solo performances for five consecutive years, each highlighting a different theme. To promote Chinese flute education, he developed teaching methods derived from his extensive experience. It is believed that more than two-thirds of flutists the Chinese orchestra community in Taiwan are his students.
Noticing the limitations of traditional Chinese flutes, which struggled to meet the demands of modern compositions, Chen dedicated himself to innovating on the instruments. He developed the Chen-style semitone flute to address the challenges of producing semitones and published research papers to share his findings.
Chen once remarked that while the largest market for Chinese orchestras is in China, this does not diminish Taiwan’s significance. To support this belief, he founded the Taiwan Bamboo Flute Association (台灣笛簫協會), inspiring young musicians in Taiwan to compose and perform. “Taiwan has a lot of great music and we must continue performing so it can reach more people,” he said.