Classical Chinese music has a reputation for being stuffy, but the Taipei
Liuqin Ensemble (台北柳琴室內樂團) has made a concerted effort to change
this with its Music Train Family Concert (音樂火車) which will take place at
the Social Education Hall tonight.
According to Chang Yung-hsin (張永欽), the deputy director of the orchestra,
this is the first time that the orchestra has created a concert like this,
and it has made special efforts to get away from the constrained atmosphere
of conventional concerts. "Often small children are not welcome or not
allowed," he said. For the Music Train, there is no lower age limit and
performers will interact with the audience, giving them a chance to learn
about the classical Chinese instruments in which the ensemble specialize.
To increase the sense of participation, percussion performers have also been
invited to join the group, and percussion instruments will be distributed
among the audience to give them a chance to participate in the making of the
music.
The ensemble was created nine years ago and continues to be a highly
regarded amateur group. "We are a plucked-string orchestra," Chang said,
"and occasionally we also have some percussion." He pointed out that as no
music has ever been written specifically for such an ensemble, the orchestra
has generally performed its own arrangements of music.
Although the instruments they play are Chinese, Chang said that they have
never restricted themselves as to the type of music they play. "We play
Chinese music, western classical music and even pop music," he said. On this
occasion, music has been selected to appeal to an audience of both adults
and children and includes arrangements from Debussy, Strauss and Schubert,
along with favorite Chinese tunes.
The Music Train concert will be held tonight at Taipei's Social Education
Hall at 7:30pm. Tickets are NT$100 to NT$400.
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