Taipei Chinese Orchestra

The Taipei Chinese Orchestra is a joyful discovery, evoking delicate playfulness, high drama, or the tranquility of a misty Chinese valley with equal atmosphere.(CLASSIC FM)

The Taipei Chinese Orchestra articulate with balletic grace, that extraordinarily delicate string tone projecting with determined swank. (Philip Clark, GRAMOPHONE)

It was formerly led by general directors Chen Tun-Chu, David Chen, Wang Cheng-Ping, Chung Yiu-Kwong, Cheng Li- Pin, and Chen Cheng-Kang. Thanks to the extraordinary leadership of the former and serving general directors, music directors Wang Cheng-Ping and Shao En, and Principal Conductors Qu Chunquan and Chang Yu-An, the performing prowess of TCO has been continually strengthened, making it an internationally renowned orchestra. With creative crossover programs that expand the definition of Chinese music, TCO has successfully established its signature style and artistic direction. TCO's slogan "Let You Hear the World", indicates that TCO not only performs Chinese music, but also collaborates with musicians worldwide. Meanwhile, TCO has endeavored to multi-disciplinary performance, in search of brand new auditory experience for local audience, as well as developing a new model for Chinese music in Taiwan. Among these attempts, productions from TCO Theater Series since 2017 are especially ambitious. In recent years, TCO has commissioned a large number of Taiwanese composers to write original pieces for Chinese orchestra, thus become the orchestra that commissions and premieres the most works by Taiwanese composers in the world, successfully establishing its own international brand.

TCO performs for more than 100,000 music lovers annually and holds concerts in various forms. Among those are Taipei Traditional Arts Festival holding from March to June every year; "As Music As Life", an educational project of over 20 concerts per year for sixth graders in Taipei City; "Culture in the Back Alley" series consisting of 36 community concerts of promotional project; tours at schools and halls around Taiwan, and so on. It also has a huge community comprising of more than 500 members of its seven affiliated orchestras that rehearse and perform regularly, laying down a solid foundation for the thriving development of Chinese music.

In terms of international exchange, the TCO has performed at major concert halls around in the world, making its presence known in more than 20 countries in Europe, North America and Asia, and has been warmly welcomed by music lovers wherever it performed. Furthermore, TCO has become the first professional orchestra from Taiwan performing at Carnegie Hall in New York upon its debut there in November, 2018. In June 2026, the orchestra performed at the Berliner Philharmonie, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, and Vienna’s Großer Musikvereinssaal, making it the first professional orchestra from Taiwan to perform at Europe's three most iconic classical music halls. The impressive performances during the tours have earned TCO music lovers around globe.

Since its founding, TCO has recorded over 100 audio publications, repeatedly winning recognition from the Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music, as well as honors for excellent government publications. Its outstanding performances have garnered attention from the international music community. Among its achievements, TCO was invited by Sweden's BIS Records to collaborate on recording and releasing international album recordings. Additionally, in cooperation with Muse Music, TCO releases annual albums themed around Taiwan's local culture and humanities, projecting Taiwan's musical creative energy onto the international stage and continuing to shine brightly.

Over the past 47 years, coming a long way from humble beginnings, TCO has grown steadily, one step at a time, to become a world class orchestra, devoting itself to paving the way to the new era of Chinese music.