Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist

With singing style that breaks the stereotype of a conventional choir, the work attempts to combine vocals, images, and electric sounds to present a “para-theater” with the choir taking the lead. The performance connects a selection of choral works by a number of local and foreign composers, expressing the philosophical ideas in Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha— primitive and innocent music in the beginning to represent childhood; gradually rationalized music with increasing complexity represents adulthood; and in the end, the music that represents later years in life returns to original simplicity. The “play” is highly coherent and dramatic; the appropriate movement and blocking of the choir suit the development of the story. The choir not only showcases swift movement on stage, but also displays outstanding techniques and pure sounds.

(Written by CHEN Han-Jin)

Artwork Introduction

Stemming from Eastern metaphysical ideas, this piece resembles a cross-field experiment of contemporary art. It elucidates the massive human journey that begins with the “void,” and proceeds with “existence,” before eventually achieving realization through the “void” again. In terms of the form, the main part of the piece is an avant-garde choir piece, accompanied with image media, electronic music, light design, and stage aesthetics, creating a stylistically contemporary and poignantly innovative para-theater. Meanwhile, by merging various forms of art and presenting them in a resonating way, the piece hints at the reality that there is indeed no real limits to things in nature, and the essence of all forms of life is the same, incessantly constructing the fullness of the world, while embodying the fundamental meaning of the void through the idea of everything as one.

The cross-field idea embodied by Void subverts tradition thinking about choral music, and unfolds an “unlimited” expression of cross-field and diverse art, pushing choral music beyond the conventional realm. Furthermore, images are no longer made for simple visual perception, and light is not just presentation of bright colors. Under the artistic premise of “unlimited,” the piece conveys a singular idea – “the value of the existence of life,” through which it touches the heart of every audience and engages them in a dialogue with themselves. 

About the Artist 

Founded in 1992, Taipei Chamber Singers has been the recipient of fifteen international choral awards, and has collaborated with multiple globally celebrated conductors, including Günther Theuring, Peter Phillips, YAN Liangkun, Paul Traver, Bob Chilcott, and Frieder Bernius. Their distinctively stylized timbre and expressiveness have won much recognition from the masters, making them one of the finest Asian vocal groups.

In recent years, the vocal group has extended their forward-looking vision to focus on interpreting contemporary music. In 2006, they launched “Music Unlimited Program,” a commission project that entails collaborating with more than a dozen of outstanding musicians from the Mandarin-speaking communities in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and Malaysia. Through the dialogue of colliding new ideas and new vocal performances, their work foreshadows a new trend in the 21^st-century Eastern choral scene. Through the comprehensive construction of various sub-aspects, such as “commission,” “debut,” and “publication of music scores and audiovisuals,” they have built a forward-looking, visionary platform of music for contemporary choral art. 

The Taipei Chamber Singers’s remarkable competence to interpret contemporary musical pieces has received much recognition from the international music community. From 2007 to 2012, they have been showcased in numerous major modern music festivals. While performing modern pieces, they also seek more opportunities to publish their commissions to actively expand the artistic influence of their works on the global stage. In the future, “Music Unlimited Program” will be continued through performing at vital music festivals and circulating publications to increase the visibility of their works in more ways possible, vocalizing the unique aesthetics and perspectives of the contemporary East to the entire world.