Theater
Happy Birds Day (快樂鳥日子) by Dance Forum Taipei (舞蹈空間舞團) is a performance that combines dance and drama. Part of the 12th Crown Art Festival (第十二屆皇冠藝術節), the product of two of Dance Forum Taipei's senior dancers, it has solicited the talents of actors which the group has worked with before, to create a theatrical presentation of their hopes and dreams as dancers.
● At the Crown Art Center Theater (皇冠小劇場), B1, 50, Ln 120, Dunhua N Rd, Taipei (台北市敦化北路120巷50號B1).
● Tickets are NT$350 and are available at the venue.
● Tonight and tomorrow at 2:30pm; Sunday at 2:30pm
Rock 'A' Roll (戲劇原理), a play
directed by well-known TV and film writer Hsieh Nien-chu (謝念祖) with the Black Gate Mountaintop Theater (黑門山上的劇團), is an absurdist drama about the nature of theater. At the National Experimental Theater, Taipei.
● Tickets are NT$500 and are available through NTCH ticketing.
● Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday at 7:30pm, tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm
The Comedy of K by Helen Lai and the City Contemporary Dance Company from Hong Kong follow on from the Compagnie Jerome Bel in the Novel Dance Series performances. Inspired by Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis, the performance, like all this year's selections, pushes the boundaries of contemporary dance.
● At the Novel Hall (新舞台), 3-1 Songshou Rd, Taipei (台北市松壽路3-1號).
● Tickets are NT$500 to NT$1,500.
● June 23 and 24 at 8pm
Classical Music
Viktor Pikayzen and Academy of Taiwan Strings -- The Complete Mozart Violin Concerti (維多*皮凱森與台灣絃樂團 -- 莫札特小提琴協奏曲全集) will be held at the National Concert Hall over two evenings, tonight and Sunday. Ukrainian Violinist Pikayzen, a pupil of David Oistrakh, has been giving concerts since the age of nine. He has won prizes in international competitions in Prague, Brussels, Paris, Moscow, and Genoa and givens concerts in more than 40 countries in all parts of the world. He regularly gives master classes in Europe, Asia, Russia, and Canada. He is currently a guest violin instructor at the Sion Music Academy in Switzerland, Moscow's Schnittke Institute of Music in Russia, and the Elizabeth University of Music in Hiroshima, Japan.
● As of press time, NT$300 tickets are sold out, but seats are available from NT$500 to NT$1,500 through ERA ticketing.
● Tonight at 7:30pm and Sunday at 7:30pm
Huang Wei-ming's 2006 Violin Recital (2006黃維明小提琴獨奏會) will be held at the National Recital Hall tomorrow. Huang is one of the most exciting violinists in classical music scene in Taiwan. Given Huang's vivid approach and astonishingly mature technique, he will introduce various genres of violin works from the classical period to different schools of contemporary music. Accompanied by Pianist Chen Jui-hsien (陳瑞賢), Huang will play sonatas of Mozart, a fantasy piece of the twelve-tone-technique composer Schoenberg, and seven popular classical pieces of Kreisler.
● Tickets are NT$300 to NT$500 and are available through NTCH ticketing.
● Saturday at 7:30pm
Taipei Chamber Singers Concert(台北室內合唱團音樂會) will present several choral works on the theme of contemporary America at the National Recital Hall over two evenings. Since its inception in 1992 by a group of enthusiastic singers, the mixed-voice choir has won numerous awards in international choral competitions, and last year, it won the gold medal in the 4th International Johannes Brahms Choir Competition and Festival in Wernigerode, Germany. Conducted by Chen Yun-hung (陳雲紅) and accompanied by Pianist Shao Yu-fan (邵瑀凡), the concert will feature a program including Samuel Barber's Reincarnation, Aaron Copland's The Boatmen's Dance, Sing Ye Praise to Our King, Help Us, O Lord, and Long Time Ago, Leonard Bernstein's America (from the musical West Side Story), Ira Gershwin's Slap the Bass and Summertime, and spiritual music, such as Battle of Jerico, Were You There, Mary Had a Baby, and Elijah Rock.
● As of press time, all tickets for Monday are sold out. Only NT$500 tickets for Tuesday's concert are available and can be purchased through NTCH ticketing.
● Monday and Tuesday 7:30pm
Wang Li-chun's 2006 Piano Recital (2006王麗君鋼琴獨奏會) will be held at Ilan County Cultural Affairs Bureau (宜蘭縣文化局), 101 Fuxing 2nd Rd, Ilan City (宜蘭市復興路二段101號) on June 20 and at the National Recital Hall on June 22. In 2004, Wang joined the Ilan-based Contemporary Chinese Orchestra and presented two popular Chinese-themed piano concertos, which were well received. This week, Wang will give the audience a different taste by presenting different classical piano works including Liszt's Annees de Pelerinage, Ginastera's Sonata No.1, Op.22, and three Rachmaninoff pieces: Etudes-Tableaux, No.1 and 2, Prelude No.2 and 3, Op.23, and Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op.42.
● Tickets are NT$100 for Ilan and NT$300 and NT$400 in Taipei through ERA ticketing.
● Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30pm
Violinist Rainer Kuchl and TPAO 2006 Concert Series -- Music from Salzburg (維也納愛樂首席與普羅藝術家樂團的莫札特之夜 -- 來自薩爾茲堡的天籟) will come to the National Concert Hall and present a program of Mozart's works: Symphony No.33 in B flat Major KV319, Rondo for Violin and Orchestra in C Major KV373, Violin Concerto No.5 in A Major KV219, and Symphony No.36 in C Major KV425 "Linz." Conducted by Liao Chia-hung (廖嘉弘), the orchestra will feature internationally distinguished violinist Rainer Kuchl, a principal concert master of the Vienna Philharmonic since 1971.
● Tickets are NT$300 to NT$1,500 and are available through NTCH ticketing.
● Thursday at 7:30pm
Contemporary
The Wall (這牆)Tizzy Bac, a rock band with a jazzy twist was formed early in 1999 by three National Central University Liberal Arts students and enjoyed a measure of success from the get-go. The group's unique sound has won it critical acclaim and the crew became a regular on the gig circuit. In 2002 the group walked away from the Ho Hai Yan music festival with the first prize. Cat Powers has been quoted in the local press as singing the praises of Tizzy Bac's lead singer. A debut album was released in 2003 and the band has built a solid repertoire of original songs inspired by a wide range of musical styles.
● Tickets are NT$400
● Tomorrow at 8pm
● Location: B1, 200, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei (台北市羅斯福路4段200號B1). Call: (02) 2930-0162 or visit www.the-wall.com.tw
The Living Room (小客廳) Described in the Taipei Times as the hardest rockin' band in Taipei, Sky Burial, named after Tibetan funeral rites, is comprised of musicians from the UK, Chicago, New York and Maine. The group was formed in 2000 and has been a regular at the Living Room, honing its punk style antics. For a taste of the crew's music visit www.sky-burial.com. Sky Burial's lyrics are provocative and satirical and its members take delight in keeping crowds on their toes with original songs like Ivy and Punishment Fuck. The crew is working on a new album provisionally entitled The Freak at the End of the Rainbow due out in August.
● Entry is NT$200 with a minimum charge of NT$300
● Tomorrow from 10pm until 12am
● Location: 3F, 8 Nanjing E Rd Sec 5, Taipei (台北市南京東路五段8號3樓). Call (02) 8787-4154 or visit www.livingroomtaipei.com
Originally scheduled for last weekend, organizers of the Peace Festival 2006 have postponed the event until June 23rd because of inclement weather. The festival, a Hoping for Hoping production, is a charity fundraiser now in its third year. It is set apart from other music festivals by its un-commercial nature, organized by volunteers and with all proceeds from the gate, drinks and merchandise
going directly to charity, including the Taiwan Association of Human Rights, Oxfam International, Garden of Hope, Taiwan International Workers' Association and St. Ann's Orphanage. Band include Milk, Muddy Basin Ramblers, Boogie Chillin', Neon and many, many more. Check the festival Web site at www.hopingforhoping.com for detailed information. There will be kid's activities on Saturday, an art camp, hand healers from the Way of Grace foundation, body painting and drumming. Weekend pass is NT$500, with free admission for children. There is plenty of space for camping. Shuttle bus will be available from Longtan interchange to the site. Check the Web site for details. At the Kun Lun Herb Gardens, Longtan, Taoyuan County (桃園龍潭崑崙藥用植物園) from sundown on Friday to sundown on Sunday.
● June 23 through June 25
Exhibition
Art Is Cultivation: Ju Ming's "Monk" New Ink Painting (藝術即修行：朱銘人間系列 -- 和尚展) and Void and Solid Transfiguration: Yuyu Yang Abstract Printmaking Exhibition (虛實．妙化 -- 楊英風抽象版畫展), two exhibitions featuring modern masters. The former features ink paints and sculpture works to echo the parallel discipline in art and religion and the latter expands the artist's inner self by reflecting the order of cosmos through the abstract reconstruction on nature and time. At Juming Museum (朱銘美術館), 2 Xishihu Rd, Chinshan Township, Taipei County (台北縣金山鄉西勢湖2號). Call (02) 2498-9940.
● Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm.
● Until July 30
Back/Ground/History: Where Do We Come From and Where Are We Going To (背景/台北/人的故事 -- 我從何處來，又往何處去). Japanese artist Reiko Nireki began this ongoing project since 1998, when she invited locals in the countries she visits to answer 15 questions regarding their life experiences, cultural identity and dreams. Consisting of portraits and recordings of people from different corners of the world, the exhibition takes a comparative look at the mutual influences between social structures and social actors. At the Suho Memorial Paper Museum (樹火紀念紙博物館), 68 Changan E Rd Sec 2, Taipei (台北市長安東路二段68號). Call (02) 2507-5539.
● Open Monday to Saturday from 9:30am to 4:30pm.
● Until Sept. 2
Yang Liming Solo Exhibition: Space*Flowing Melody (楊黎明個展 -- 空間•流韻), a series of abstract paintings by the Chinese artist that combines Western abstractive principles with traditional Chinese abstractive representation stemming from the brush and ink paintings to reflect the innermost images in the hart of a painter through free, floating strokes.
At Home Gallery (家畫廊), 30-1, Zhongshan N Rd, Sec 3, Taipei (台北市中山北路三段30-1號). Call (02) 2591-4302.
● Open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm.
● Until June 28
My Martial Arts World Exhibition (武林的故事 -- 我的武俠世界特展), the special exhibit invites visitors to relive the would of Chinese martial arts, features the popular literature of martial arts that include novels, comic books, films, old newspapers story series and computer games as well as some well-know types of weapons and a combat ring.
At Taipei Story House (台北故事館), 181-1 Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei (台北市中山北路三段181-1號). Call (02) 2587-5565.
● Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:30am to 6:30pm.
● Until Oct. 15
Words from the Fabric: Between the Abstract and the Concrete (纖維物語：抽象與具象之間). Eight local artists take the art of fabric weaving to a new horizon as they explore the possibilities of the traditional craft with fine art approaches. Rather than seeing formulaic embroidery pieces, visitors are exposed to multi-media works on fabric to illustrate the artists wild imagination and creativity.
At the Arts Center of Soochow University (東吳大學游藝廣場), 56 Guiyang St Sec 1, Taipei (台北市貴陽街一段56號). Call (02) 2311-1531.
● Open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 6pm.
● Until July 29
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