天使之歌 (Songs from the Angels)
// December 19th, 2010 // No Comments » // Chinese, Taiwan
Last Monday night, December 13, I had the remarkable and completely unexpected privilege of performing with the National Taiwan Normal University Symphony Orchestra in Taipei’s famous National Concert Hall (國家音樂廳). By far, it was one of the most amazing performances I’ve ever experienced. The NTNU symphony is a remarkably accomplished and talented group of undergraduate musicians, and had I known just how incredible they were before auditioning, I may not have even asked! Even in the very back, I still felt like I didn’t belong amongst such talented students! Their ability to react instantly to what the conductor asks and bring the music alive was just as impressive as their remarkable precision and tightness as an ensemble. This all goes without even mentioning the concert hall, which is by far the most beautiful and breathtaking performance hall I have ever played in to date. In addition, Maestro Lawrence Golan, conductor and tenured full professor at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music, guest conducted the performance, yet another honor to work with such an accomplished and world-renowned conductor. I still cannot believe that within just one month of living in Taipei I have been lucky enough to experience such an unforgettable privilege!
The whole thing began just a few weeks after arriving in Taipei. I discovered the ensemble online and decided to ask the conductor, Maestro Apo Ching-Hsin Hsu, if I could come audition for the orchestra. I did not even have a violin, but Apo had one I could borrow. We met on November 25 and within just a few minutes of checking out the violin she agreed to let me play. It was a daunting task because we only had about 2 weeks to prepare for the concert, so she put me in the back of the 2nd violins and handed me some music.
Over the next two weeks, I joined the orchestra in rehearsals preparing for the concert. At the first rehearsal, Apo actually made me introduce myself in Chinese, so I got up and in rather broken Chinese told my story, that I was studying Chinese at NTU, have played the violin for a long time, etc. At first, I kind of got the vibe from other students that they were wondering just what business I had in this orchestra, and given how talented the group is and how hard each student has had to work to get there, I could understand. But after a few rehearsals and a bit of chatting in between with some of the students, I found the group to be a fun and welcoming bunch just like every other person I have met in Taiwan. In particular, I have found Apo to be the kind of conductor that I wish every musician could have the opportunity to work with, bringing a sense of humor and warmth to the group that sets an atmosphere for making amazing music. She embodies the spirit of the music in the room, making rehearsals as much a joy as they are work.
It has been a blast and such a unique experience as the only foreigner in the orchestra. Rehearsals are all in Chinese, which while at first was a little intimidating has now become one of my favorite aspects. I am now at a level where I can understand most things being said and speed really isn’t much of a problem. The most interesting part of rehearsals that I discovered was just how little you need language when you have music. If I paid attention, I almost could predict exactly what Apo was going to say because I could tell what she wanted from the orchestra. Music itself truly is a language, and while I’ve said it before, I gained a much deeper understanding of what that means through this experience.
About the Concert:
The title was “天使之歌 (Songs from the Angels),” and the lineup included:
Samuel Barber: Symphony No. 1, Op. 9
Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings, Op. 11
Tsang-Houei Hsu: Nu-guan-zi, Op.14
Tsang-Houei Hsu: Duex Mouvements pour Orchestre a Cordes, Op. 24
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 4 in G major
The soloist for the 4th movement of Mahler and Hsu’s Nu-guan-zi was NTNU’s professor 陳允宜. The two pieces by Tsang-Houei Hsu are based on traditional Taiwanese themes and sound very “Asian” in that they use a lot of pentatonic scales and interesting percussion. I found it quite interesting because it reminded me of how Dvorak took a lot of native themes from North America and put them into his New World Symphony. Hsu’s music had many similar elements in that it was classically structured but filled with local melodies, only very different themes which were often more rhythmically based. In general, the contrast of Mahler’s romantic symphony with Barber’s one-movement symphony and Hsu’s traditional Chinese themes was one of the most international concerts I’ve experienced and a suprisingly good match together.
