The soundtrack for the movie Ripples of Desire (花漾) composed by folk musician Chen Ming-chang (陳明章) won the best world fusion album award on Saturday at the Golden Melody Awards for artistic and traditional music in Taipei.
“Thank you director Zero Chou (周美玲), for giving me a chance to blend nanguan (南管) into a film,” the singer-songwriter-producer said after winning the award.
The album blends sounds from Taiwanese string instruments with those from nanguan guitars, lutes, dulcimers and oriental drums.
Photo: CNA
Nanguan is a Chinese classical music style that originated in Fujian Province, China.
The movie is about the life of two young courtesans on a remote island populated by merchants, pirates and other outcasts 300 years ago.
The Golden Melody Awards, billed as the biggest music awards event in the Chinese-speaking world, are divided into two ceremonies, one for artistic and traditional music and one for popular music categories. The award ceremony for the second category is scheduled to take place on July 6.
The jury award on Saturday night went to father-and-son pair Peng Shuang-sung (彭雙松) and Peng Wen-ming (彭文銘), who were praised for their dedication to the digital preservation of music for more than two decades.
Since 1975, they have purchased the copyrights to more than 6,000 albums, covering Hakka, folk and Aboriginal music and traditional instruments, and spent time categorizing and digitizing the albums, without ever making money from their efforts.
The best faith album went to Poetic Mantras by Ma Chang-sheng (馬長生), and the best folk music album and best musical arranger awards went to Limitless — The Circle of Seasons by the Chai Found Music Workshop.
Vali by acappella group SURE won the best singing performance and best album packaging awards, while The Rose in the Wilderness, which consists of piano pieces composed by the late Kuo Chih-yuan (郭芝苑), grabbed the best album producer award.
Award-winning singer-songwriter Huang Shan-liang (荒山亮), Canadian world music singer-songwriter Matthew Lien and Okinawan singer Rimi Natsukawa performed at Saturday’s ceremony at National Dr Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei.
A total of 67 works were selected from 1,595 entries to compete in 15 traditional and artistic music award categories this year, according to the Ministry of Culture’s Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development.
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Friday laid out the Cabinet’s updated policy agenda and recapped the government’s achievements ahead of the one-year anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration. Cho said the government had made progress across a range of areas, including rebuilding Hualien, cracking down on fraud, improving pedestrian safety and promoting economic growth. “I hope the public will not have the impression that the Cabinet only asked the legislature to reconsider a bunch of legal amendments,” Cho said, calling the moves “necessary” to protect constitutional governance and the public’s interest. The Cabinet would work toward achieving its “1+7” plan, he said. The
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