This coming Monday the Taipei Sinfonietta & Philharmonic Orchestra (TSPO,
Mazer, who died on Aug. 1 this year at the age of 85, first came to the attention of the world of classical music after his debut at Carnegie Hall in 1970, when he stood in for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's full time conductor, William Steinberg. Coming to Taiwan in 1981 to lead the Chao Yun Ensemble (
PHOTO COURTESY OF TAIPEI SINFONIETTA & PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Mazer reconstructed the Chao Yun ensemble and renamed it the Taipei Sinfonietta & Philharmonic Orchestra in 1991. His guidance and musical expertise enabled the ensemble to enlarge its repertoire and go on to become one of Asia's busiest orchestras.
Under Mazer's baton the orchestra became the first Taiwanese ensemble to perform at scores of internationally renowned venues including Vienna's Grosser Musikvereinssal and Boston's Symphony Music Hall. In between its numerous jaunts abroad, the orchestra made the time to break records at home in Taiwan. In January the TSPO became the first and only Taiwanese orchestra to have held 100 performances at the National Concert Hall in Taipei.
In the twenty years he lived and worked in Taiwan, Mazer became one of the nation's most respected and conscientious conductors. At his memorial service in August, President Chen Shui-bian (
The Taipei Sinfonietta & Philharmonic Orchestra will pay tribute to Henry Mazer on Monday, Dec. 9 at Taipei's National Concert Hall (
Tickets cost between and NT$250 and NT$1,200 and are available from ERA ticketing outlets nationwide or direct from the venue.
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