The 12th annual Applied Materials Culture and Arts Festival held by Applied Materials Taiwan opened in Hsinchu last Saturday and will run through the end of April. Poco A Poco Music Education Foundation music director Liu Chu-wey and aesthetician Chiang Hsun have once again been invited to give a series of free lectures over seven consecutive weekends starting last Saturday. Liu will guide audiences in an appreciation of classical era composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s (1756-1791) 1786 comic opera Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), and also introduce The Yellow River Piano Concerto, an arrangement based on the major contemporary Chinese choral work The Yellow River Cantata. Chiang will take audiences on an exploration of the systems of thought that have come down to us from four major ancient civilizations: Egypt, Greece, India, and China.
Among the seven lectures, the first three are opera-themed and held in the Recreation Center at Hsinchu Science Park. Liu Chu-wey, hailed as Taiwan’s “music missionary,” will introduce Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro and talk about The Yellow River Cantata, a musical epic composed by Xian Xinghai in 1939 to promote revolutionary fervor, as well as The Yellow River Piano Concerto arranged from the cantata in a musical collaboration between Yin Chengzong and Chu Wanghua between 1968 and 1969. The cantata was banned during Taiwan’s repressive martial law era.
Liu combines his lighthearted and humorous approach to lecturing with his own method of music appreciation, subdividing a melodic line and laying out a series of numbers in a matrix indicating the number of measures in a musical phrase. Then along with the music, he uses one hand to point to a number on the matrix while with his other hand conducting the beat and his fingers counting the measures. Audiences are inspired by his lively facial expressions and movements, which have helped him successfully break down the high barriers to classical music appreciation.
Photo: Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報林亞蒂
Liu told the Taipei Times last Saturday that, as opposed to other instrumental music pieces, the festival has for years focused its lectures on opera because opera gives audiences a richer experience since, in addition to its storyline, it also includes a symphony orchestra, literature, and more. Applied Materials Taiwan senior public relations manager Pearl Tan told the Taipei Times last Saturday that a music lecture has more educational value than a live concert. Seeing how audiences in the almost-full 500-seat auditorium last Saturday concentrated and even took notes as they enjoyed Liu’s afternoon musical banquet made it clear that the charm of classical music is irresistible to music experts as well as people who are only occasionally exposed to classical music.
The last four lectures are on the theme of art history and are being held at the National Tsing Hua University Gymnasium in Hsinchu City. Chiang will guide audiences through the aesthetics of Eastern and Western philosophy. In addition, the organizers will hold an extra lecture at the Southern Taiwan Science Park on April 26 titled “The Awakening of Body and Self,” a name derived from one of Chiang’s books This Life — the Awakening of Body and Self. The book is available for purchase at the lectures, and all proceeds will be donated to the St. Joseph Social Welfare Foundation in Hsinchu City.
Applied Materials Taiwan, based in the Hsinchu Science Park, is a subsidiary of US-based Applied Materials Inc — the world’s largest nanomanufacturing technology company. Now in its 45th anniversary, Applied Materials seeks, in addition to its business operations, to contribute something softer to a technology-dominated generation in an otherwise hard-headed business environment. The Applied Materials Culture and Arts Festival, the first of its kind in Hsinchu, has been held for more than 10 years, and is aimed at cultivating a sense of art and culture among people in the technology industry. For more information, please call 03-5584485.
(LIN YA-TI, TAIPEI TIMES)
Photo: Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報林亞蒂
台灣應用材料公司第十二屆年度「應用材料文藝季」,已於上週六在新竹市開跑至四月底,再度邀請到樂賞音樂教育基金會音樂總監劉岠渭與美學大師蔣勳,帶來一連七週的週末免費講座。劉岠渭將引導觀眾聆賞古典時期作曲家沃夫岡‧阿瑪迪斯‧莫札特(1756-1791)於一七八六年寫的詼諧歌劇《費加洛婚禮》,也會從中國現代大型合唱作品《黃河大合唱》中,介紹鋼琴協奏曲《黃河》。而蔣勳則帶領民眾探索埃及、希臘、印度與中國這四大古文明流傳的生命哲思。
七場講座中,前三場歌劇講座在新竹科學工業園區活動中心禮堂舉行,由被譽為台灣「音樂傳教士」的劉岠渭介紹莫札特的歌劇《費加洛婚禮》,並從冼星海作於一九三九年宣揚革命精神的音樂史詩《黃河大合唱》,談由殷承宗、儲望華等一九六八年至一九六九年間改編自這首作品的鋼琴協奏曲《黃河》。這首大合唱在台灣「戒嚴時期」曾經被禁止演奏。
劉岠渭以其輕鬆幽默的講解,搭配自創聆賞法,將一條旋律線細分,以樂句段落中「小節數」排列成類似矩陣的圖形,跟隨著音樂,一手指出音樂在「矩陣」上進行到的「小節數」,另一手為觀眾指揮並以手指數著「小節數」,生動表情活潑動作引導觀眾,打破了聆賞古典音樂的高門檻。
Photo Courtesy of Applied Materials Taiwan
照片由台灣應用材料公司提供
劉岠渭上週六向《台北時報》表示,相對於其他純器樂曲目,文藝季多年來以歌劇講座為主題,豐富觀眾所聞,因為它除了故事情節外,還包含了管弦樂、文學等。台灣應用材料公司資深公關經理譚鳳珠表示,以演講形式聆賞音樂,比一場浩大的音樂會演出,來得更具教育性。從上週六現場近五百位觀眾聚精會神、甚至做筆記的場面,享受劉岠渭帶給大家一下午的音樂饗宴,可見無論是古典音樂行家或門外漢,都難以抗拒古典音樂的魅力。
後四場美術史講座則是在新竹清華大學大禮堂舉行,由蔣勳引導民眾徜徉東西生命哲思之美。主辦單位另在四月二十六日,增加一場在南部科學工業園區管理局演藝廳的講座,邀請蔣勳講「肉身覺醒」,講座名稱來自蔣勳的一本書《此生─肉身覺醒》。講座現場會義賣這本書,所得全數捐給財團法人新竹市天主教仁愛社會福利基金會。
位於新竹科學園區的台灣應用材料公司,是全球最大的奈米製造技術領導廠美商「應用材料公司」的在台子公司。今年適逢「應用材料公司」成立四十五週年,除了企業經營外,也希望在製造業剛性環境中,為科技世代帶來柔性訴求。「應用材料文藝季」是新竹第一個以文藝季為名,舉辦超過十年的藝術公益活動,宗旨是能增添科技人藝術涵養與人文思維。詳情請洽03-5584485。
(台北時報記者林亞蒂)
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