Taipei Chinese Orchestra

Taipei Chinese Orchestra has successfully completed our performance tour in Japan In October this year, through the event "TCO's 2015 Music Tour in Japan: Taiwan Panorama", we served as a cultural ambassador of Taiwan and reached fruitful results for the season. In addition to oversea tours, we have also arranged domestic tours in Nantou and Changhua, as well as other regions, in the January of 2016. Orchestral ensembles will be performed locally with the Traditional Chinese Music Club of Nantou's Shuang Wen Junior High School. TCO's concertmasters have headed south in advance to the performances, so as to facilitate instructions and gave veteran suggestions. It is hoped through these local concerts to extend aesthetic experience, and disseminate the knowledge of the music type. On top of that, we also sought to bring positive influence on local music education.

Compared to western orchestras, Chinese orchestral pieces and performances are fresh and more interesting to oversea audiences. As one Chinese orchestra, TCO has great possibilities and opportunities to further develop in the global community. I'd like to refer back to our performance tour in Japan. We have displayed a collection of works created by Taiwanese composers, as well as those by Mainland Chinese composers intended to depict Taiwanese culture and local music customs. Not only had we introduced sounds of traditional musical instruments to audiences in Japan, but we presented a silhouette of Taiwan's modern music.

A collection of new or classic work defines the path of a Chinese orchestra. If we are to identify the TCO's individuality, massive accumulation of our own work is pivotal. To name just a few events we have undertook, first TCO launched collaboration with Departments of Music in Taiwan Universities through the "Composition Audition Project: Try Your Work". We encourage domestic composers to increase the number of musical production through this project. Moreover, upcoming in 2016, we will hold the "2016 TCO International Music Composition Contest," featured expatriate Chinese Chen Yi as chairman of the jury. The music material should surrounds authentic Taiwanese music, or depiction of Taiwan's landscape and customary events. This event aims at urging young composers around the globe to actively learn the beauty of Taiwan's folk music, multiplying melody innovations; at the same time, expanding new Chinese orchestral pieces created by outstanding composer talent worldwide. Through this competition, it is hoped to publicize Taiwan's traditional music on international music stage, and meanwhile, further elevate the visibility of Chinese orchestra in the global community.