Before closing for its annual maintenance and refit in late January, the Chiang Kai-shek Cultural Center will be presenting a series of ground-breaking concerts.
The Contemporary Music Festival is the first of its kind to be held in Asia and will feature six programs that have been specially designed to in order to give Taiwan audiences maximum exposure to some of the finest contemporary/classical crossover music.
One of the groups to play at the festival is the Frankfurt-based Ensemble Modern, which was established in 1980. It consists of 19 soloists and is one of the most adaptable ensembles in the world. Along with performing traditional chamber/orchestra styled contemporary and classical concerts, the German group is one of the few to incorporate video, dance and theater into its performances.
For the festival the ensemble will be performing a selection of programs featuring works ranging from those of rock satirist Frank Zappa, minimalist composer Stephen Reich and musical dramatist Heiner Goebbels, as well as composers Helmut Lachenmann and Olivier Messaien.
The opening concert on Jan. 4 at the National Concert Hall, will see the Ensemble Modern performing works by Zappa. Entitled, Modern Rock of Zappa, the program will include reworkings of such Zappa classics as The Beltway Bandits, A Pig with Wings and Night School.
When the group moves to the National Theater, however, audiences will be attracted by the Silent Films of Charlie Chaplin and the Ensemble Modern. A huge movie screen will be erected in the theater and audiences will be able to watch several revamped and digitized Charlie Chaplin flicks while the group accompanies the silent classics with a performance of Benjamin Mason's Chaplin Operas.
For the final concert on Jan 11, the Ensemble Modern will perform Goebbels' Black on White, in which the groups members become characters in a musical drama. Part theater, part concert, the show sees the group playing while standing, sitting and walking. Adding an even more oddball effect to Goebbels' unique creation is the use of an amplified thunder sheet, at which the group throws tennis balls in order to create the strange musical soundscape.
The Contemporary Music Festival will run from Jan. 4 though Jan. 11, with concerts taking place at the National Concert Hall, National Theater and the Experimental Theater. Tickets for all shows are available direct from the CKS Cultural Center booking office and range in price from NT$300 to NT$2,500. depending on the program. For further information and a full schedule call (02) 2343 1548 or log on to the CKS Cultural Center Web site at http://ntch.edu.com.
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