The National Theater & Concert Hall (NTCH) yesterday announced that all of this weekend’s shows have been canceled or postponed to allow for the full disinfection of both venues, following confirmation that an Australian composer and violist, who performed with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Concert Hall on Friday and Saturday last week, had tested positive for COVID-19 in Australia.
At a late-night news conference on Thursday, the Central Epidemic Command Center said that the composer, who arrived in Taiwan on Feb. 23 and left on Monday, had earlier in the day been confirmed as a coronavirus case.
Australian health authorities said the composer left London on Feb. 22 and transited through Bangkok before arriving in Taiwan. He arrived in Brisbane on Tuesday and took another flight to Adelaide, where he was due to take part in the Adelaide Festival.
Photo courtesy of the National Theater Concert Hall via CNA
He is being treated in an isolation ward at Royal Adelaide Hospital.
While Thursday night’s news conference was told that the Concert Hall would be closed for disinfection yesterday, the NTCH later said that both venues would be closed to the public over the weekend, with the National Theater being disinfected today and normal operations expected to resume on Monday.
It had contracted a professional cleaning company to disinfect not only the four performance areas and lobbies, but all backstage and office areas in the two buildings, as well as the parking lots, although they would operate normally over the weekend, the NTCH said.
The Taiwanese musical Love Song — Rhyme for you Revival (我為你押韻—情歌Revival), which was due to open last night for a four-show run, has been postponed to a later date.
Roger Chih-I Chiang’s Violin Recital (新逸2020首席再起系列音樂會姜智譯小提琴獨奏會), which was scheduled for tomorrow night, has been rescheduled for April 26, while tomorrow’s Liao Chiao-han Piano Recital IX (廖皎含鋼琴獨奏會系列 Ⅸ), part of the “Music From Formosa” series, has been rescheduled for April 12.
Among the canceled National Symphony Orachestra shows are tonight’s Radovan Vlatkovic With Friends; tomorrow night’s master series Jun Markl & Radovan Vlatkovic; the Mini Organ Concert scheduled for 11:30am on Monday; and Lu & Kit on March 14, featuring pianist Kit Armstrong.
The NTCH said customers who have purchased tickets for the canceled shows could receive a full refund before March 21.
Refunds for tickets bought with credit cards would be processed automatically. Those who paid by cash can get refunds from the ArtsTicket System service centers in Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung; or by mailing the ticket(s) and a passbook copy to Ms Chang at National Theater, E-Commerce Section, 21-1 Chungshan S Road, Taipei, 10048.
For more information, telephone (02) 3393-9888.
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