Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist

The Taipei Chinese Orchestra has cooperated with the Swedish record label BIS Records for several years. As another production spawned from this collaboration, “The Explosive Drumbeats”, starring famous percussionist Evelyn Glennie, is a concert performance of a collection previously selected for the purposes of recording. Repertoires chosen for the performance display many features of both eastern and western percussion music, and include “Emperor Qin Crushing the Battle Formations”, a concerto written by Chung, Yiu-Kwong for Chinese and western percussion which introduces new audio and visual effects for the section. With the help of world famous artist Evelyn Glennie and the global distribution of this recording, the Taipei Chinese Orchestra has the opportunity to make its own premier on an international level. Featuring solos by orchestra members Lin, Tzu-You and Hsieh, Tsung-Hsin, both local performers, the concert is a prime opportunity for promotion of the Taiwanese musical world.Committee member: Lin, Tsai-Yun

Artwork Introduction

Taipei Chinese Orchestra invited world-class percussionist Evelyn Glennie for their concert “The Explosive Drumbeats” which premiered October 31, 2010 at Taipei's Zhongshan Hall.     

Renowned Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie, the first full-time western solo percussionist, tours extensively, performing over 100 concerts a year and teaches master classes for aspiring young musicians. As a soloist, her innovation and creativity constantly changes the audience's expectations of what percussion music is, as she is continually creating a unique style of music.

For the world premiere concert “The Explosive Drumbeats,” Glennie performed TCO's General Director Chung, Yiu-Kwong 's composition “Emperor Qin Crushing the Battle Formations,” a dual percussion concerto that was based on an ancient tune and written specifically for her and TCO's own outstanding percussionist Hsieh, Tsung-Hsin. The piece was a challenge to the two percussionists' techniques and rapport. The percussive piece not only renders the fusion of eastern and western percussion music, but is also a breakthrough of skills for both styles, thus presenting a fresh way of fusing the present with the past, and the east with the west.

Chung employs the ancient tune as the basis for orchestration but combines the melody from the scores of Pipa and Guzheng. Divided into three parts, with the first and third parts sounding closer to the traditional score, the middle part has a contemporary style. This piece is a breakthrough from traditional forms and makes it possible to cross the limits of the percussion techniques of Chinese and western instruments with the entire work striking a balance between modernity and tradition, the east and the west.

Glennie also performed “Prism Rhapsody” by Japanese marimba master Keiko Abe, and the “Concertino for Xylophone” by Toshiro Mayuzumi. Additionally, Swedish BIS Records, a long-time collaborator with TCO, recorded the live concert to release the recorded DVDs worldwide.

About the Artist

Founded in 1979, the Taipei Chinese Orchestra (TCO) was the first professional Chinese orchestra in Taiwan.

TCO presents over 40 regular concerts every year and promotes music education to children through its Art is Profound education program and its school and community concerts. Additionally, TCO plays the role of Taiwan’s cultural ambassador by performing in cities all around the world.

TCO is known for collaborating with distinguished traditional Chinese music masters such as Min, Hui-Fen and with well-known western artists such as the Kronos Quartet.

Led by composer Chung, Yiu-Kwong as General Director and conductor En Shao as Music Director, TCO has experienced an era of unprecedented artistic growth.