The grand awards ceremony for the 30th Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music was held on Aug. 10 at the Taipei-based Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center, with the winners finally revealed after four months of deliberations by the judges.
In the publishing category, the award for Best Performance was the most fiercely competitive, with organist Yu-Hsiang Abby Chen (陳毓襄) ultimately the one to emerge from the 194-strong field to take the title.
Best Performer, meanwhile, was the most eagerly watched award, with Ellvan Ku Yi-fan (古翊汎) winning the award hot on the heels of taking last year's Best New Performer accolade, marking him as one of the top figures to watch in Taiwanese opera today.
The theatrical performance category added two new awards this year, with Best Music Design won by Ke Ming-feng (柯銘峰) for the Chun-Mei Taiwanese Opera Troupe's (春美歌劇團) performance "Untouchable (咫尺天涯)" and Best Script awarded to Lee Ji-wen (李季紋) for "The Orphan of Zhao 1399 (1399趙氏孤兒)."
The recipients of the Special Awards — Yeh Chwei-ching (葉垂青) and Wang An-chi (王安祈) — were also recognized for their contributions to and achievements in the fields of traditional and artistic audio publishing and theatrical performing arts, respectively.
This year was also the first time the ceremony arranged a red carpet event, with nominees and guests walking along it with much excitement. Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun was in attendance to personally congratulate the nominees and winners, thanking them for their efforts to preserve and pass on Taiwan's traditional arts.
Under the artistic vision and direction of theatrical wunderkind Lee Hsiao-ping (李小平), music director Lee Che-yi (李哲藝), and video design coordinator Ethan Wang (王奕盛), this year’s ceremony set a new high-water mark for the awards.
The 2019 list of award winners is available here, and the full three-hour-plus ceremony can be streamed on YouTube: