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National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra announces its 2020-21 season lineup

  • Date:2020-07-16
National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra announces its 2020-21 season lineup

The National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra (NTSO) announced on July 16 its 2020-21 season highlights, which will feature 23 musical repertoires of the Series of Nature, the Series of Beethoven's Symphonies, and the Maestro Series, jointly planned by NTSO Director Liu Suan-yung (劉玄詠) and Lan Shui (水藍), NTSO principal guest conductor. The symphony orchestra will give 50 performances around the island.

The NTSO will kick off the new season with Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 and the piano concerto "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" by Sergei Rachmaninoff featuring NTSO Artist-in-residence Gwhyneth Chen, at the National Taichung Theater on August 29 and the National Concert Hall in Taipei on August 30. The season will conclude with two concerts at the two venues on July 2nd and 3rd in 2021, with Lan Shui conducting the orchestra to present "The Arabian Nights" composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Artist-in-residence Rainer Honeck cooperating with the orchestra to present Alban Berg's Violin Concerto.

In the upcoming season, the NTSO will have world premiere of two commissioned works by Taiwanese composers, namely "Dancing Crane the Landscapes" by Tsung-Hsien Yang (楊聰賢), and "Everlasting Love" by Yen Ming-hsiu(顏名秀). Both works were inspired by literary works. Yang found his inspiration from seven stories by writer Wu He (舞鶴, meaning dancing crane), and Yen's orchestral work was based on the novel "Last Words from Montmartre (蒙馬特遺書)" by the late writer Qiu Miaojin (邱妙津 1969-1995).

Lan Shui, who served as the music director of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra from 1997 to 2019, said the NTSO is unique as it seeks to foster a greater appreciation for music among the general public and cultivate new talents, in addition to its regular performances.

Speaking of his accidental long stay in Taiwan since last March, in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, the renowned musician said that he was impressed while rehearsing and recording with the orchestra, and he was exceptionally moved to see many familiar faces among the audience when the orchestra hit the stage for the first time last week since large gatherings were halted to prevent the spread of the virus. Performers appreciate particularly genuine interact with audiences, the maestro concluded.

Starting August 1, tickets for NTSO's new performances will be available on ArtsTicket. Visit here for more program details.