Hsu is a cultural warrior

Hsu Po-yun (許博允), who was born in 1944 in Japan, is one of the most fascinating figures in Taiwan's artistic

community.

Through extensive travels and experience, Hsu is well-informed and organizes events by world-class stars and troupes in Taiwan.

His goal is to improve the quality of cultural life in Taiwan and to enlighten his compatriots.

In 1978, Hsu and his wife Fan Man-nong (樊曼儂), a well-known flute player, founded the New Aspect Cultural and Educational Foundation (新象文教基金會).

And in the almost three decades since its inception the New Aspect has put on over 6,000 events with some 20,000 artists from 88 countries having performed for more than 7 million audience members at 130 different venues in 88 cities/counties throughout Taiwan.

New Aspect has held over 100 world premier performances and countless Taiwan premiers in music.

Such impressive achievements may have made Hsu and his wife famous, but have not necessarily brought them great riches.

Hsu's enthusiasm in promoting artistic activities in Taiwan proved disastrous in 1997 when he sponsored a concert at the Chiang Kai-shek memorial hall by Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Diana Ross.

The event called "Super Concert" was held outside and attracted an audience of some 60,000.

However, more than two thirds of the audience watched from afar and hadn't bought tickets for the concert.

The poor choice of venue for the concert almost bankrupted Hsu and he was forced to sell several of his houses to pay back bank loans, which at one time totalled NT$200 million.

Later on, he would tell his media friends and college students who attended his lectures that, "promoting the arts in Taiwan offers the least potential to make big bucks."

Despite the setback Hsu has gone on to prove his abilities.

Hsu believes that artists themselves should promote culture so that people who understand art can lead the artistic community in a proper manner, the New Idea (新觀念) reported in its July issue.

Hsu hails from a prominent local family. He said his childhood home was a mansion filled with many antiques.

His grandfather Hsu Ping (許丙) was a dedicated Peking opera fan and Hsu's father loved western classical music. As a result, he was exposed in his childhood to both traditional Chinese opera and western music.

After graduating from high school in 1960, he learned to play the violin and studied music theory under Professor Hsu Tsang-houei (許常惠), who inspired the young student to pursue an artistic life.

Hsu consequently took on the multiple roles of music performer, composer, impresario and cultural reformer.

On Dec. 9, he will hold a concert at the National Concert Hall to present many of his music masterpieces.

Hsu composed his first musical composition aged 19 in 1962 and his most popular work The Pipa (琵琶隨筆),written in 1975, has been performed more than 300 times in several dozens of cities throughout 30 or more countries.

His music has been well received in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.

Artists and news media in Europe have also presented Hsu's music in many different forms, including stage-shows, music performances, radio shows and movies.

Hsu is critical of the National Chiang Kai-shek Center for

extending the musical The Phantom of the Opera to a run of almost three months starting from Jan. 18.

"The long duration of a performance for one single troupe would ruthlessly take away the opportunity for a great number of local or other international artists to perform there."