衛武營國家藝術文化中心 National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)

"Seldom has enlightenment proved so entertaining."－Chicago Tribune

Following the widely acclaimed Mussorgsky: Pictures from an Exhibition: Pictures of What? in 2022, Weiwuying is once again bringing in a powerful Beyond the Score® production from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Wagner: The Tristan Effect, in 2023, as a profound, multimedia experience of WAGNER’s creativity.

The chord progression at the beginning of Tristan und Isolde was deemed by experts of later times the line of demarcation between tonal and atonal music. Its sense of unknown origin and unknown destination is a reflection of the human subconscious. Beginning with the chord progression, and then, by means of an intimate conversation among orchestral excerpts, images of sheet music, and the four actors, the creative background and plot twist are exquisitely revealed. To exhibit WAGNER’s source of inspiration, the soprano will sing excerpts from WESENDONCK-Lieder, which is clearly a declaration of WAGNER’s affection for Madame WESENDONCK.

The Beyond the Score® series is a combination of theater, projection, and lighting that brings together orchestral music and storytelling in looking at the backgrounds of pieces of music and their composers. Whether an aficionado or new to music, you are sure to find it highly enjoyable.

  Creative and Production Team  

Conductor｜YANG Chih-chin

Mezzo-soprano｜WANG Yu-shin

Piano｜HSIEH Hsin-jung

Actor｜HSU Yi-sheng, Chao HSU, KO Chen-ying, HAO Shi-huai

Orchestra｜Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra

  Artists Introduction  

Conductor｜YANG Chih-chin

Principal Conductor of Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra (KSO), YANG Chih-chin is a renowned conductor in his generation in Taiwan. Born in 1969, he graduated from The Russian Academy of Gnesin, Moscow, Russia, and studied with Miroslav RUSIN, Filex CHEN Chiu-sheng, András LIGETI, Gunther HERBIG, Michael JUROWSKI. Before joining KSO, YANG served as the Assistant Conductor of Taipei Symphony Orchestra, the Conductor of Opera Studio of National Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Center, Taiwan.

YANG obtains very great success in performance from the public by his passion of music, rich orchestral color control capabilities, excellent rhythm, and faithful interpretation of the score.

YANG has performed with many excellent soloists including Vadim REPIN, Ivo POGORELICH, Andrei GAVRILOV, Sergei NAKARIAKOV, Akiko SUWANAI, Valentina LISITSA, Konstantin LIFSCHITZ, Gavriel LIPKIND, Alban GERHARDT, YANG Wen-sinn, Ilya GRINGOLTS, Alexei VOLODIN, Tsuyoshi TSUTSUMI, LIN Cho-liang, HU Nai-yuan, and LIU Meng-chieh.

YANG has worked with and conducted Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra of Russia, Voronezh Philharmonic Orchestra, Württemberg Philharmonic Reutlingen, Bulgarian State Opera Burgas, Filarmonica Brasov, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa of Japan, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra and Nanjing Jiangsu Symphony. Highlights in recent season, 2017, YANG was invited to Kanazawa Japan with KSO, performing in Spring Green Music Festival where they were highly acclaimed by critics and reviews.

Mezzo-soprano│WANG Yu-hsin 

With a master's from the Institute of Music at National Chiao Tung University, mezzo-soprano WANG Yu-hsin has a full, warm timbre and can sing pieces ranging from the Baroque to the contemporary. She has played major roles in numerous operas, singing various parts, including Rigoletto and Eugene Onegin (with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra), Salome and Suor Angelica (National Symphony Orchestra), Die Walküre (National Taichung Theater), Madama Butterfly (Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra), Faust and La Vida Breve (Taipei Opera Theater), Carmen (Creation Opera Institute), The Three Little Pigs and Pinocchio (National Theater and Concert Hall Opera Workshop), Formosa Bloom (Taipei Chinese Orchestra), and The Magic Flute, Gianni Schicchi, and L'Enfant et les Sortileges (Taipei Philharmonic Opera Studio). In 2014, with conductor Joe HISAISHI, the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, and the Vienna State Opera Chorus, she performed the alto solo in BEETHOVEN's Symphony No. 9. She has also performed the alto solos in MAHLER's Symphony No. 2; HANDEL's Messiah, Deborah, Belshazzar, and Theodora; VIVALDI's Gloria; MOZART's Mass in C Major; HAYDN's Mass in D Minor, and PALMERI's Misa a Buenos Aires. She won first place in the adult division at the 1st International Opera Vocal Ensemble Competition in 2017 and was invited to perform in Italy and Switzerland in 2018.

Piano│ HSIEH Hsin-jung

HSIEH Hsin-jung began learning the piano at age four and came under the tutelage of professors LIN Chiung-yu, WANG Ren-jen, JIAN Kuan-hong, and Rolf-Peter WILLE. After graduating from the National Institute of the Arts, she studied German lieder under David LUTZ in Vienna. In 1999, she earned a degree in piano vocal accompaniment from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. In 2002 and 2003, she worked at the Mariinsky Academy of Young Opera Singers in St. Petersburg. 

She frequently collaborates with notable Taiwanese singers in genres ranging from Baroque to contemporary and from sacred music to opera. She has performed and worked as vocal coach in MOZART's The Magic Flute, The Abduction from the Seraglio, and The Impresario; ROSSINI's The Barber of Seville; DONIZETTI's The Elixir of Love; BELLINI's The Sleepwalker; WEBER's The Marksman; STRAUSS' The Bat; HUMPERDINCK's Hansel and Gretel; and VERDI's La Traviata and Rigoletto. She was also the vocal coach in the world premieres of CHIEN Nan-chang's The Four Women in Puppet Master Lee Tien-lu's Life, YEN Ming-hsiu's My Mom Needs an Education, and LEE Che-yi's Formosa Bloom. She has won prizes at the International Rimsky-Korsakov Competition and German Lieder Competition Taipei. From 2005 to 2016, she worked for the Taiwan National Choir, learning much from Agnes GROSSMANN. Since 2005, she has worked at National Taiwan University of Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts, and the Taipei Chinese Orchestra Chorus.

Actor│ HSU Yi-sheng

A university lecturer, stage performer, playwright, and director, HSU Yi-sheng earned a master's in vocal performance from National Taipei University of Education. In 2009, he won Newcomer Award at the Association of Vocal Artists of R. O. C. and worked at the Opera Workshop of the National Theater & Concert Hall. In 2019, he received high acclaim for his performance in the global debut of Nobel laureate GAO Xingjian's The Monologue. He currently teaches at Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Shih Chien University, and National Taiwan Normal University.
He initiated his opera career by playing Spinelloccio in Gianni Schicchi in 2008. In 2018, he played the storyteller,  Pangloss, and Martin in Weiwuying's Candide. He became more active in stage drama in 2012, performing in  Godot Theatre Company's Mr. Right Wanted, U, Brother?, Our Town. Musicals include the Taipei Symphony Orchestra's Green Island Serenade, Godot Theatre Company's Kiss Me Nana and Love Ya Mom, and so on. His major works as a playwright/director include Qi's Trouble for the National Symphony Orchestra; the a cappella musical Dad Stealing Fish, the symphony musical Peer Gynt Suites, Excerpts from Carmen, and the musical The Grandma's Songbook for the Pingtung Cultural Affairs Bureau; and the musical Closing Off the Heart and the opera Hansel and Gretel for the Tainan Arts Festival.

Actress│Chao HSU
HSU is a singer, actress, and theater artist. She is experienced in seeking every opportunity to explore the interplay between inner body-mind and outer society under a cross-cultural context. Chao graduated from National Taiwan Normal University, English Department (B.A.) and Taipei National University of Arts, School of Theatre Arts (M.F.A.), participated the Odin Week Festival in 2016, and went to the Camping event in Centre National de la Danse during 2018.

Born and raised in rural Kaohsiung, HSU had always wanting to bridge the gap of artistic focus between the cities and the rural areas. Her training includes Michael CHEKHOV Technique (by Taipei Theatre Lab), Body Awareness (by Legend Lin Dance Theatre), SUZUKI Actor Training, Bando Kabuki Dance (by BANDO Sengiku), musical theatre, and regular dance classes such as ballet, contemporary, etc. HSU's artistic practice can be mostly seen in musicals, physical theater performances, straight plays, and solo shows. Her recent performances are: Light the Night Immersive Theater by Inception.co, The Night Yukihime Came by Voleur du Feu Theatre, The State and Dendki by Our Theater, Do (Not) Rescue collaborated with Eye Catching Circus-Female circus platform, Moments, Start Over: the Musical by Project Zero,  Who stole my words? by Punctum Drama, When the Lotus Blossoms, Mostly Broadway #S2, Taiwan Hólíwood: A Musical Comedy by M Studio, O–Life's a Drag by Taipei Blooming,  Eat Drink Man Woman by Perfect Match, and Reed Unbroken by VM Theater…etc.

Actor│ KO Chen-ying

B.A. in theater arts, Taipei National University of the Arts
Freelance theater artist and assistant floral designer at Zana Floral
Most of my recent work has been in musicals, so I'm honing my singing and dancing skills too! 

Major Work
Punctum Creative's The Show Must Go On IV and Adventure in the Kingdom of Black Shadow I and II
Ear East Ensemble and Harlem YU's The Journey to the West—Uprise of the Young Devil
Tainaner Ensemble's musical 12th Night
Taipei Philharmonic Theatre's A Lamb Roll-call: Wolf in Disguise
GarsonPlay Studio's musical stage reading Fight for Fantasy
FancyFrontier and How to Eat Faust's Old Man Hero and Hades Apocalypse
Meet Chances' The Espionage of Governor

Actor│HAO Shi-huai

HAO Shi-huai has 15 years of experience in theater, a master's in sex education, and a bachelor's in visual communication. He worked as an associate artist for three years at The Theatre Practice in Singapore, where he coordinated and taught classes on performing and theater. Upon returning to Taiwan in 2019, he invited overseas instructors to hold a performance workshop and coordinated a theater experience camp. He specializes in incorporating theater elements with social practice and engages audiences in dialogue through stories.

Major Work
2022  Performer and dancer for Natus, My Home (concert put on by Natus Cantorum)
          Playwright and director for Song of the Sun, part of Natus Cantorum Junior's event Every Day Is a Good Day
          Performer and dancer in Wei Dance Company's Roar of the Beast
2021  Playwright and director for the drama Fragrance of Tobacco at the Liudui 300 Years celebration
2020  Performer in Olive Leaf Theater's Over and Over Again at the Kaohsiung Spring Arts Festival
          Performer and dancer in Wei Dance Company's If I Don't Come Back
          Playwright and host for Happy Bird Story Theatre's Smashed (educational drama)
2018  Performer in Theatre Practice's Artist Farm and Immortal X
2015  Performer in E-MU-THEATER's Gleichgewicht
 

Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra

Wherever there is music, there is you.

A young orchestra which marches on steadily

It is an asset for a city to have an orchestra of its own. Young and energetic, the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra (KSO) invites world-class conductors and masters for collaboration and challenges itself by staging performances of diversified styles. The development of the orchestra focuses on both classical and crossover genres; it has not only created increasingly more high quality musical miscellanies for music enthusiasts but also planted numerous seeds for music appreciation and performance, contributing to the innovation of classical music.

The Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1981. It was merged with the Kaohsiung Chinese Orchestra in 2009 as "Kaohsiung Philharmonic Culture and Arts Foundation." Since 2009, the KSO has made considerable contributions in the Kaohsiung Spring Arts Festival, successfully promoting its grassland concerts. In the last decade, the KSO has collaborated with renowned local and international artists and music groups and staged numerous concert series. The KSO has been invited to perform on international stages regularly. Reaching beyond city and country borders, the KSO advances steadily with the self-development goal of becoming an internationally acclaimed orchestra.

Beyond the Score® is a production of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Gerard McBurney, Creative Director for Beyond the Score®

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