With several foreign performers having canceled trips to Taiwan amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwanese musicians who live abroad have been presented with more opportunities to perform in the country.
One such musician is German-based conductor Yang Su-han (楊書涵), who returned to Taiwan late last month for a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra after Enrique Mazzola was unable to travel for the March 6 concert.
Yang, the first-prize winner at the Grzegorz Fitelberg International Competition for Conductors in 2017, is joined by Swiss-born Taiwanese cellist Yang Wen-sinn (楊文信) — no relation — who is scheduled to headline another concert on March 12.
Photo courtesy of Yang Su-han via CNA.
It would be Yang Su-han’s first time conducting the orchestra, which is to perform the originally planned pieces, including Antonin Dvorak’s Othello Overture, Op. 93; Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s Cello Concerto in C minor, Op. 43; and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10 at the National Concert Hall in Taipei.
While many foreign performers have been unable to visit Taiwan because of the mandatory 14-day quarantine for all arrivals, Yang Su-han told the Central News Agency during his quarantine that “the isolation is actually good for someone preparing for a concert, because one can be more focused.”
Yang Wen-sinn is to perform five pieces of chamber music alongside guest violinist Richard Lin (林品任) and members of the orchestra at the National Concert Hall in Taipei.
The March 12 concert was changed to a chamber performance after conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya and pianist brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen pulled out.
Lin, who is based in the US, returned to Taiwan last year and has since given several performances.
Meanwhile, violinist Ray Chen (陳銳) has performed in up to two concerts a month since returning to Taiwan to open the orchestra’s 2020-2021 season in September last year.
Pianist Kit Armstrong (周善祥), who has British and Taiwanese parents, completed five recitals in December last year and has since played in seven performances across Taiwan, with the eighth announced on Monday — a performance at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts on March 7.
The organizer of the recitals, Blooming Arts, attributed the musician’s successful tour to his talent and good luck, as the company picked up venue slots that were vacated by foreign artists canceling performances.
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