The founder of the Taiwan-based Ju Percussion Group has been inducted into the Washington-based Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame.
“I am surprised by this recognition and feel very honored,” Ju Tzong-ching (朱宗慶) said on Tuesday.
Ju is one of two Hall of Fame inductees this year, with the announcements made on Monday.
Photo: CNA, provided by Ju Percussion Group
Ed Soph, a jazz drummer and music professor from the US, was also inducted.
Ju said the award represents not just recognition of him, but also Taiwan’s achievements in the development of percussion in the international arena.
The group is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
Ju has also established an education foundation and classes to promote percussion music.
The Taiwan International Percussion Convention, hosted by the Ju Percussion Group Foundation once every three years, is Asia’s largest percussion festival, inviting world-class ensembles to Taiwan to perform and teach, making the nation a global percussion center.
The first Asian to be inducted into the Hall of Fame was Japanese marimba player Keiko Abe in 1993.
Ju and Abe are the only Asian musicians to have been inducted since the Hall of Fame was established in 1972.
The Hall of Fame was set up to recognize the contributions of professional leaders in percussion performance, education, research, scholarship, administration, composition and the industry, according to the society, a non-profit organization devoted to the promotion of percussion.
Ju, who is artistic director of the Ju Percussion Group, has played “a significant role in enhancing the wide interest in percussion music in Taiwan over the last two decades,” the society said in a statement.
“The wide popularity of percussion music in Taiwan owes a great deal to Ju for his pioneering efforts in music education,” it said.
The Hall of Fame ceremony is to be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Nov. 10, the first day of a three-day annual meeting of the society.
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