The National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) Unleashes its Global Potential in Producing the Arts under the “New Normal”

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) has proven itself capable of mounting a world-class opera for live audiences. On 18 – 21 March, Weiwuying presented an all-Asian cast in Verdi’s La Traviata led by Weiwuying General and Artistic Director CHIEN Wen-pin. First staged by director YANG Shih-ping in 2016 in collaboration with the Kaohsiung Spring Arts Festival, the production made its debut at Weiwuying to full occupancy in its Opera House.  

The 2016 version of La Traviata performed in the Kaohsiung Cultural Center © National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)

Weiwuying’s La Traviata production featured a cast of leading Taiwanese soloists, including the Taiwan-based Korean tenor CHOI Seung-jin and KENG Li, a Taiwanese soprano based in Italy, accompanied by a Kaohsiung-based orchestra and chorus. All the performers returning from abroad joined rehearsals after completing a 14–day quarantine plus seven additional days of self-health management, per current pandemic–related regulations. 

Since its opening in October 2018, Weiwuying has made opera its flagship production beginning with Paradise Interrupted, an “installation opera” in one act co-commissioned by Weiwuying, Spoleto Festival USA and the Lincoln Center Festival. Last summer’s Turandot, a co-production with Deutsche Oper am Rhein, played to a sold-out crowd and was livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube. For its second anniversary in October 2020, Weiwuying presented Let’s Opera, an open singing gala where any lover of operatic singing had a chance to perform on stage in Weiwuying’s Recital Hall.  

Verdi’s 1853 masterpiece La Traviata contains some of the best–known and most loved music in all opera. “It is no coincidence that La Traviata is among the most popular operas in the repertoire,” says Maestro Chien. “The quality of the music and the captivating storyline make it not only a perfect introduction to opera for newcomers but also a source of ongoing fascination for experienced operagoers and professional musicians alike.” The efforts reveal Weiwuying’s ambitions to welcome everyone through its doors and enjoy the operatic art, which is also a key goal of Maestro Chien, who was Resident Conductor of Deutsche Oper am Rhein from 1996 to 2018. 

2021 Weiwuying TIFA Contemporary Music Platform 

In addition to opera production, the 2021 Weiwuying TIFA Contemporary Music Platform will take place from 12 – 25 April, introducing Kaohsiung audiences to cutting-edge contemporary works and performers. With its cancellation in April 2020 due to the pandemic, this marks the Platform’s second edition since its launch in 2019. 

With a focus on Asian female composers this year, the Contemporary Music Platform opens with Maestro Chien leading the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra in a programme of orchestral works by the internationally renowned composer Unsuk CHIN, the Platform’s 2021 resident composer. The concert features the Taiwan premiere of Chin’s Piano Concerto with soloist Jenny LIN, followed by an online talk with Maestro Chien and the composer discussing her music and the role of Asians on the global musical stage.  

Pianist Jenny Lin © National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)

The resident composer of 2021 Weiwuying TIFA Contemporary Music Platform Unsuk Chin © Priska Ketterer

That next day, Lin will also present The Minimalist World of Contemporary Virtuosos, a fresh and diverse programmme juxtaposing the Hungarian composer György Ligeti with the American minimalist master Philip Glass. Born in Kaohsiung, raised in Austria and currently living in New York, Lin is a “pianist of the world” who deftly draws from the extremes of two great composers the infinite possibilities of contemporary music. 

In addition, the 2021 Weiwuying TIFA Contemporary Music Platform will present Resonance: Into the Maze, an exciting dialogue between contemporary music and theater created by composer LIN Kuei-ju and sound installation artist WANG Chung-kun together with the innovative percussion ensemble Freedom Beat. A multimedia project from Ensemble KNM Berlin entitled Tunings of the World 2.0 will be presented in Weiwuying’s Art Gallery, and Here and Now, a creation from the music and dance workshop jointly organised by Studio Acht and Cloud Gate Theater in 2020 to foster further collaboration and artistic understanding between musicians and dancers, will be performed by an all–local roster of three dancers and four musicians. 

Resonance Into the Maze © LIN Yu-quan

In this era of global uncertainties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Weiwuying will devote much of the coming year to connecting with the international arts scene. By producing local works, collaborating with artists abroad and curating events in public spaces, Weiwuying continues to promote the performing arts in the daily life of all our citizens, providing unique “made in Taiwan” artistic experiences to serve its immediate community and beyond.