The National Symphony Orchestra hopes its upcoming concerts held to officially launch the 2022-2023 season will bring back audience lost due to COVID-19, the group’s Music Director Jun Märkl said in Taipei Monday.
“One of the very important points is to regain the audience we might have lost during the COVID crisis. This program I hope is a really good start,” Märkl said during a news conference to promote the orchestras’ upcoming concerts featuring three Scotland-themed pieces.
The concerts to be held in Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taitung over the two coming weekends will begin with “Marche écossaise sur un thème populaire” (Scottish March on a Popular Theme) by Claude Debussy, according to the Taipei-based orchestra.
Debussy first wrote the piece as a piano duet before developing it into an orchestra piece and part of it has music similar to dance music in central France, Märkl said.
France will be one of the main themes for a second season, and Debussy, along with Maurice Ravel are two French composers whose works will be highlighted during the new season, according to the orchestra.
The orchestra will be joined by guest violinist Paul Huang (黃俊文) for the second piece — a concerto titled “Scottish Fantasy” by German composer Max Bruch, Märkl said.
At the news conference, the New York-based Taiwanese violinist described the concerto as “sounding like a funeral march at the beginning but ending in a festive atmosphere.”
Huang said he felt that the piece somewhat reflects the current time when people might see light at the end of the tunnel after over two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The violinist said he is looking forward to playing the piece with the orchestra’s principal harp, Chieh Shuen (解瑄), at his side on stage.
The orchestra will play Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No.3 in A minor, Op.56, “Scottish” for the second half of the concert, Märkl said, with several works by the German composer to be played in the new season to mark the 175th anniversary of his death this year.
The concert will take place first at the National Concert Hall in Taipei on Sept. 16, the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts on Sept. 17, and the Taitung Art and Culture Center in the southeastern county on Sept. 25, according to the orchestra.
Chamber music concerts, 1-minute symphony
In addition to his guest appearance at the season opening concerts, Huang, who was the artist in residence at the orchestra during the 2020-2021 season, has helped curate a series of chamber music concerts for the new season, some of which were pitched by members of the orchestra.
Huang himself is scheduled to headline two chamber music concerts in January, according to the orchestra.
Meanwhile, Märkl said the orchestra will continue the “One-Minute Symphony Project” he introduced last season to help cultivate local composers in Taiwan.
Around 12 one-minute pieces will be premiered during the new season under the project, the objective being to offer young composers an opportunity to improve their skills by directly working with an orchestra, he said, noting five of the 10 composers last season have been picked to present their new works.
A one-minute composition can be later developed into longer pieces, Märkl said, and the composers selected for the new season have been given introductions to create pieces in line with themes he has planned for his second season leading the orchestra, including “nature.”
At a previous press event in July, Märkl said he hopes one day, the National Symphony Orchestra can play works by Taiwanese musicians to share stories from the island on overseas tours, instead of Western classical pieces.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel