Taiwan and Poland are to host a benefit concert for Ukraine on Sunday at the National Concert Hall in Taipei.
Tickets for the “Pray for Ukraine — Solidarity with Ukraine” concert are on sale now, the Polish Office in Taipei wrote on Facebook on Friday.
After deducting expenses, proceeds from the concert would fund relief work to help Ukrainian refugees, through donations made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Polish office said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The office said that it came up with the idea of the concert, which is organized by the Taipei Philharmonic Foundation for Culture and Education and directed by the foreign ministry and the Ministry of Culture.
The concert is to feature performances by Taiwan-based Polish pianist Kamil Tokarski, Taiwanese-American violinist Leta Chin (金昫祈), soprano Lin Ling-hui (林玲慧) and baritone Chen Han-wei (陳翰威), and is to be conducted by Wu Yao-yu (吳曜宇), associate conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra.
The concert is to include Prelude Op. 33 No. 1 by Sergei Bortkiewicz, a composer and pianist who was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in 1877 to a Polish noble family.
Bortkiewicz studied in St Petersburg, Russia, and Leipzig, Germany, and lived in Berlin, but during World War I he was forced to leave Germany and return to Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine. During the Russian Revolution, he fled to Istanbul, Turkey, as a refugee. He eventually returned to Berlin and then Vienna in 1922, where he spent the rest of his life.
The concert is also to feature A Prayer for Ukraine, a patriotic Ukrainian hymn by Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko that was published in 1885.
Lysenko, known as “the father of Ukrainian music,” was born in Hrynky in 1842. He was the founder of the national Ukrainian music movement, based on specific Ukrainian cultural traditions and the originality of its folk music.
The Polish office said that since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, more than 4 million Ukrainians have fled their country, while tens of thousands of people still need assistance and protection inside Ukraine.
“In this difficult time of life and death, we should stand up to help Ukrainians,” it said.
The concert also aims to bring people from all walks of life together to help Ukrainians through practical action, it added.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS