Listening to Taiwan
The National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra was invited to perform at the Tyzen Hsiao Memorial Concert at the Center for the Performing Arts in San Jose, California, on Aug. 4.
It was a day of music in the San Francisco Bay Area, where about 2,500 people were immersed in the powerful ending notes of Taiwan the Green.
Hsiao Tyzen (蕭泰然) was an old friend to the Bay Area Taiwanese community and the world premiere of his 1947 Overture was presented at the Calvin Simmons Theatre in Oakland, California, on June 3, 1995. Hsiao, known as Taiwan’s Rachmaninov and a neo-romantic pianist, was a composer with a remarkable gift.
He was born in 1938 in Kaohsiung and died in 2015 in the US. From 1988 to 1990, he composed the three greatest works of his life — Violin Concerto in D, opus 50, Cello Concerto in C, opus 52 and Piano Concerto in C minor, opus 53. The world premiere of Violin Concerto was given by Lin Chao-liang (林昭亮) with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra in 1992. Cello Concerto was premiered by Tang Zhongsheng (湯崇生) with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in 1994.
Twenty-three years later, the Taiwanese American Center of Northern California organized a chorus of 150 local Bay Area Taiwanese joined by the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra (NTSO) at the Maestro Tyzen Hsiao Music Festival. The NTSO, founded in 1945, is the oldest symphony orchestra in Taiwan. The concert was its first performance in the US since its founding.
Conductor Chen Mei-annn (陳美安), who was born in Taiwan, first came to the US to study violin in 1989. She received master’s degrees in violin and conducting at the New England Conservatory and earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in conducting at the University of Michigan.
Chen is not fluent in Taiwanese, but she gave the chorus clear instructions on when to lower their voice, cut their voice and raise their voice. She trained the chorus to sing like professionals.
Pianist Gwhyneth Chen (陳毓襄) was born in Taiwan and immigrated to the US in 1980. At the age of 12, she won the 50-state National Piano Competition staged by the Music Teacher National Association. In 1993 she won the biggest cash prize in the history of piano competitions. She played the major part in section 2 of the concert.
Soprano Karen Ho (何佳陵), who was born and grew up in Taiwan, received her Master’s in Music from the Eastman School of Music and Artist’s Diploma from the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her high voice smoothly led the chorus into the suite.
The Taiwanese American Center of Northern California, David Chen (陳德輝), Maysing Chang (黃美星), Wei Chun (唯甄) and Li Shea (麗雪) provided great service, selling out all of the tickets at the 2,600-capacity venue. The program’s first section included March of Democracy and Angel From Formosa; the second was Piano Concerto; the third was the soprano’s performance of How Lovely is Thy Dwelling, The Fairest Flower and I Love Taiwan; then it was Love and Hope and Taiwan the Green, with an encore with Snack Peddler.
Thanks to the clear instructions from Chen, the choir’s performance was excellent and they earned a big round of applause, while the audience had tears in their eyes.
The concerts delivered a clear message to the community. The 1947 Overture tells us the history of the 228 Massacre, the terrible killing of 10,000 souls.
John Hsieh
Hayward, California
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