Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist

The quest for music that both represents one's self and reflects the current time is the single dream of the contemporary musician. Confronted by the westernization of traditional music and the sinicization of Western music, the Chai Found Music Workshop was founded by a troupe of young traditional musicians during the apex of modernism in the late twentieth century.  By bravely abandoning the constructs of style and engaging with modern composers, the Chai Found Music Workshop seeks the voice of the contemporary moment, one that is neither Chinese nor Western.  After repeated performances in Europe and collaborative works abroad, the Chai Found Music Workshop returns to Taiwan to mold their experiences into the elaborate project, New Horizon of Sounds.  This time, they join Ensemble XX Jahrhundert to perform musical pieces that evidence the work of foreign and local composers through various combinations of Chinese and Western musical instruments.  Forgoing the fancy stage effects and performance skills of some cross-disciplinary music, the Chai Found Music Workshop and Ensemble XX Jahrhundert purely caress and tease a variety of sounds, demonstrating excellence and maturity in performance and the power of musical expression.  (By Wei-tsu FAN)