The Taiwan International Contemporary A Cappella Festival (台灣國際重唱藝術節), the biggest event of its kind in the country, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Twenty-two a cappella groups will compete starting at 3pm tomorrow afternoon at Taipei City Fu Hsing Elementary School (台北市福星國小), with the top eight groups facing off in a final contest at 8pm.
The festival also includes master classes taught by a cappella groups from Germany and Hungary on Oct. 22 and Oct. 23. The international groups will perform in two concerts on Oct. 24.
The Taiwan International Contemporary A Cappella Festival was launched in 2001 to connect singing groups in this country. Founder Ray Chu (朱元雷), along with fellow members of Double Chin (雙下巴), had asked a composer to arrange pop tunes for the group. At that time, Chu says, many choral groups focused on classical music. Curious to see if there were other a cappella groups with similar musical interests, Chu went online and found that many countries had competitions dedicated to a cappella music.
Photo courtesy of TCMC
“We looked for a competition in Taiwan and since we couldn’t find one, we decided to launch one ourselves,” says Chu, who is also cofounder of the Taiwan Choral Music Center (台灣合唱音樂中心), a non-profit group. The first year was really lively and had a friendly atmosphere, so we’ve kept it going.”
The competition became international in 2005 after forming an alliance with the vokal.total International A Cappella Competition in Graz, Austria. Winners from each contest are invited to compete and take classes in the other country. For this year’s Taiwan International Contemporary A Cappella Festival, however, only domestic groups will be competing. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the festival, its organizers have invited Germany’s Klangbezirk, Vocaldente and Niniwe, as well as Hungary’s Fool Moon, to give master classes focusing on singing techniques, vocal percussion, rehearsal skills and recording, among other topics.
The four a cappella groups, which have each competed at previous Taiwan International Contemporary A Cappella Festivals, will perform in two concerts, one at 3pm, the other at 7:30pm on Oct. 24 at Taipei Zhongshan Hall (台北市中山堂). A highlight of the 3pm concert on Oct. 24 is the Eurasian Project by Klangbezirk, which will perform its own arrangements of classic Taiwanese pop songs, including tunes originally sung by Teresa Teng (鄧麗君).
Photo courtesy of TCMC
FESTIVAL NOTES:
WHAT: Taiwan International Contemporary A Cappella Festival (台灣國際重唱藝術節)
WHEN AND WHERE: Starts at 3pm tomorrow with 22 Taiwanese a cappella groups competing at Taipei City Fu Hsing Elementary School (台北市福星國小), 66, Zhonghua Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市中華路一段66號). The top eight groups will square off in a final contest at 8pm
Photo courtesy of TCMC
ADMISSION: Tickets are NT$200
ON THE NET: Go to festival.tcmc.org.tw for a complete schedule and to preorder tickets
ADDITIONAL EVENTS: A cappella groups Niniwe and Klangbezirk will perform at 3pm on Oct. 24 at Taipei Zhongshan Hall (台北市中山堂), 98 Yanping S Rd, Taipei City (台北市延平南路98號). A second performance at 7:30pm will feature Fool Moon and Vocaldente. Tickets are NT$300 to NT$1,200 each. The four groups will also teach master classes on Oct. 22 and Oct. 23 at Taiwan Choral Music Center’s studio, 8F, 35, Zhongxiao E Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市忠孝東路一段35號8樓). The fee is NT$3,000 for one day of classes or NT$4,000 for both days. To register, go to the studio, visit festival.tcmc.org.tw, send an e-mail to info@tcmc.org.tw, or call (02) 2351-9199 X301. Classes will be taught in English
Photo courtesy of TCMC
For additional performances by Niniwe, Klangbezirk, Fool Moon or Vocaldente throughout Taiwan, visit festival.tcmc.org.tw
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses. After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. The team is among 10 recognized in this year’s Ig Nobel awards (see below for more), the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” They are not
This Qing Dynasty trail takes hikers from renowned hot springs in the East Rift Valley, up to the top of the Coastal Mountain Range, and down to the Pacific Short vacations to eastern Taiwan often require choosing between the Rift Valley with its pineapple fields, rice paddies and broader range of amenities, or the less populated coastal route for its ocean scenery. For those who can’t decide, why not try both? The Antong Traversing Trail (安通越嶺道) provides just such an opportunity. Built 149 years ago, the trail linked up these two formerly isolated parts of the island by crossing over the Coastal Mountain Range. After decades of serving as a convenient path for local Amis, Han settlers, missionaries and smugglers, the trail fell into disuse once modern roadways were built