The "Whispers of Trees" music concert will launch its first US tour in November 2022. The performances will take place at Benaroya Hall in Seattle on Nov. 2, at Huntington Library on Nov. 5, and at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center on Nov. 6.
Supported by the Ministry of Culture and the Taiwan Academy of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Los Angeles, this cross-collaboration by Taiwanese composer Chou Hsuan-hung (周宣宏) and film director Wei Zhao-yi (魏肇儀) focuses on trees and consists of the conducted recording, filming, soundscaping, and music writing in Kaohsiung. It also reveals that the environment and living beings revolve around trees, forming a collective life community. Both artists will attend the post-concert Q&A session and share their concept creations.
"Whispers of Trees" premiered at National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) in 2021. Composer Chou graduated from the Department of Film and Multimedia Scoring at New York University and he is currently the composer-in-residence for the Kaohsiung City Wind Orchestra and the artistic director of Six Arts Music. Director Wei's works concentrate on the transnational, interethnic, and interspecies social relationships between humans, objects, and the environment.
Pianist Anna Hung (洪藜禎), the Seattle Symphony string quintet, and TaMuLa (Taiwanese Musician in Los Angeles) are invited to perform at the concert.
The Taiwan Academy of TECO in Los Angeles stated that the concert gathered exceptional Taiwanese artists from Taiwan and the United States. It is a pleasure to introduce the program on the theme of the human-nature relationship and also introduce the beautiful theater Weiwuying which was inspired by banyan trees to American audiences.