The Formosa Singers have made a reputation for themselves through their command of musical forms as diverse as sacred music from the 16th century to traditional Hokkien ballads. Julian Su (
Hsiao has composed many choral works in Hokkien out of personal interest, as opposed to political reasons. "I want to speak in my own mother tongue. This has nothing to do with the ideology of localization." As a tonal language, Hokkien presents special challenges to the composer and arranger of the music. "It can lead to significant differences in meaning if the tone [of a word] is altered by the music," said Su. For Hsiao, his work is part of an effort to open up a new field of classical music, that of the Hokkien song. "The tradition has been developed in Mandarin, but not yet in Hokkien," Hsiao said.
The choir and soloists are accompanied on the piano by Cai Yu-shan (
WHAT Premiere of Hsiao Tai-jan's The Prodigal Son (
WH0 Formosa Singers Concert (
WHEN Nov. 28, 7:45pm
WHERE The National Concert Hall, Taipei (
TICKETS NT$250 - NT$500
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