For the first time since its establishment 77 years ago, the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra (NTSO), in collaboration with the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society, will kick off its Europe performance tour in September.
The performance tour "Listening to Taiwan — 2022 National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra Europe tour concert (聽見臺灣-2022 NTSO 歐巡以樂會友交流音樂會)," will be performed by NTSO String Ensemble and led by Taiwanese violinist Robert Chen (陳慕融), the concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Several classical masterpieces by musicians such as Mozart and Schubert as well as works by Taiwanese composers including Chen Shih-hui (陳士惠), Chen Shu-si (陳樹熙) and Chang Ching-shan (張菁珊) will be performed at the concert.
Previously, NTSO has performed in Europe in the form of a small-scale chamber orchestra. This year will be the first time for NTSO to perform in Europe as a 20-member symphony orchestra.
Born in 1969, Robert Chen began violin studies at the age of seven and continued with Robert Lipsett when he and his family moved to Los Angeles in 1979. While in Los Angeles, he participated in Jascha Heifetz’s master classes. Chen received both bachelor's and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School, where he was a student of Dorothy DeLay and Masao Kawasaki.
The "Listening to Taiwan" program will be held at Brahms-Saal of the Musikverein in Vienna on Sep. 22; Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society Hall on Sep. 25 and Kaunas State Philharmonic Society Hall in Lithuania on Sep. 26.