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National Kaohsiung Center For The Arts (WEIWUYING) Grand Opening announced for October 13
National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) will open its door to the public on October 13. Featuring 171 top artists from Taiwan and around the world, Weiwuying Grand Opening Season presents more than 70 performances and workshops of theater, circus arts, dance, music and interdisciplinary works from October 13 to January 1, 2019.
The grand opening day will unveil the unique vineyard-style concert hall with Glittering Sound ─ The Inauguration Concert, presented by exceptional artists from home and abroad. At night, Arts for the People- The Grand Opening is an open party orchestrated by German creative team phase7 and taiwanese performing talents.
Weiwuying’s vineyard style concert hall welcomes world maestros
National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) spans 9.9 hectares and consists of four indoor stages: Opera house, Concert Hall, Playhouse, Recital Hall, and an outdoor theatre. The first-ever vineyard style Concert Hall in Taiwan is ready to welcome world-class conductors and orchestras: the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Gustavo Dudamel, who conducts in Taiwan for the first time and Mariss Jansons & Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks will be among the first artists to perform at Weiwuying’s vineyard style Concert Hall. La Fura Dels Baus will bring their visually striking production, The Creation, which originally produced for the grand opening of Elbphilharmonie and La Seine Musicale, will give its Asia premiere in Kaohsiung.
Produced by German manufacturer Johannes Klais Orgelbau, the pipe organs in the Concert Hall consists of 9,085 pipes, making it the grandest pipe organ in Asia and a rare double organ in the world. On October 14, Iveta Apkalna, one of the most acclaimed organist, will perform a repertoire of classical and contemporary works to showcase the wide-ranging sound of Weiwuying's new organ. In the year of Leonard Bernstein’s centennial, Weiwuying honors the maestro with a grand production of his popular operetta, Candide, Leonard Bernstein at 100.
Taiwanese opera, chinese orchestra and folk drum arts
The Playhouse will welcome taiwanese opera In Love with Gezaixi as its first performance. Through a presentation of taiwanese opera selection since the beginning of 1900’s, the program pays tribute to the precious culture assets of Taiwanese opera. The Legend of Parade Formation, is a collaboration between National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan and Chio-Tian Folk Drums & Art Troupe to bring parade formation, which originally takes place in grand temple fairs, to the Playhouse. The Story of Xi Lou Ji, brings in Taiwanese avant-garde director Wang Chia-Ming and the historical Jiangsu Kunqu Opera Theatre to shine new light on a classic story. Kunqu opera originated in the Ming dynasty and is one of the most elegant and intricate traditional Chinese arts.
Reviving of the Classics
After leading Cloud Gate for 45 glorious years and making it one of the finest dance companies in the world, Lin Hwai-min, “one of the greats of the 20th century” (South China Morning Post), will take his final bow as artistic director of the company at the end of 2019. Cloud Gate – The 45th Anniversary Gala Program is a retrospective of his works, featuring highlights of Cloud Gate classics that had mesmerized audiences worldwide: Moon Water, Portrait of the Families, Pine Smoke, Rice and more. SMAP X SMAP, presented by one of Taiwan’s most innovative theatre companies, Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group, is the last installment of director Wang Chia-Ming’s pop culture trilogy. Painting a hopeful but highly unpredictable era in Taiwan, the play takes you on a joyous and light-hearted trip down the memory lane but also illuminates the Taiwanese society in 2018.
Weiwuying- A stage connecting to the world
Paradise Interrupted, Weiwuying’s first international co-commissioned opera with Lincoln center Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, and Singapore International Festival of Arts will finally make its debut at Weiwuying after winning widespread praise overseas. The production features Kunqu opera star Qian Yi, renowned composer Huang Ruo and the Emmy-awarding winner Jennifer Wen Ma’s directing and visual design.
Theatre master Robert Lepage, will bring his widely acclaimed self-directed, composed and performed work 887 to Weiwuying. The anticipated production collaborates with Ex Machina, known for its multi-disciplinary productions, to create a magical stage set that allow the audience to traverse between the past and the present.
MUMMENSCHANZ, established for 45 years, has inspired adults and children alike with its unbound imaginations. At Weiwuying Grand Opening Season, MUMMENSCHANZ presents You & Me, a theatre incorporating mime, dance, and lights which is absolutely delightful for audience at all ages.