The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) plans to establish a youth orchestra next year, further expanding its existing education programs to cultivate young musicians in Taiwan, music director Jun Markl said in Taipei on Wednesday.
“We want to help the young generation develop and to create the highest standard of potential we have here in Taiwan,” said Markl, who took up the post of music director in January.
The National Symphony Youth Orchestra follows the NSO’s apprenticeship, internship and young conductor programs, as well as the composer program called the “1-minute symphony” project launched in this year’s season, he said, adding that it expects to make its debut in July next year.
Photo Courtesy of the National Symphony and Orchestra, via CNA
The NSO is in February to hold auditions to choose about 70 musicians aged from 12 to 25 to attend an education program at the Northern Miaoli Art Center in Miaoli County’s Zhunan Township (竹南), before the youth orchestra makes its debut at the venue in July, Markl said.
Markl would lead the first group of young musicians, who are set to perform four to five concerts around Taiwan, with guest violinist Carolin Widmann, the NSO said.
The German violinist and her composer brother Jorg Widmann most recently worked with the NSO on a series of concerts at the beginning of the 2022 to 2023 season in August and September.
Contemporary and classic pieces would be included in the youth orchestra’s first concerts, including Igor Stavinsky’s The Firebird Suite, Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35, Ottorino Respighi’s Pines of Rome, and Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa’s Woven Dreams.
Unlike existing youth orchestras in Taiwan, which are either based in a city or at a university, the National Symphony Youth Orchestra would be open to all young musicians in Taiwan and would perform concerts in cities and towns across the country, he said.
His vision for the youth orchestra is for the troupe and musicians taking part in the program to become cultural ambassadors for Taiwan, he added.
Details on the auditions for the youth orchestra, which would tour Taiwan every summer and winter, is to be published in January, the NSO said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS