Synesthesia · Tshuài Kóng Lah!

tshuài kóng: Taiwanese Hokkien internet slang meaning “come out and say it.”
“Synesthesia · Tshuài Kóng Lah!”, a special 2021 project of the Taipei Chamber Singers, is the first event of the Music Unlimited project to unfold in the Dadaocheng neighborhood. Curated and coordinated by independent performing arts producer 高翊愷, in close collaboration with artists including The Double Theatre and 三明治工, it comprises a five-senses exhibition [Tshuài Kóng Lah! Come and See.], installations in distinctive local shops [Tshuài Kóng Lah! Hit the Streets.], themed talks [Tshuài Kóng Lah! Let’s Talk.], and a street-interview series [Tshuài Kóng Lah! Sound Off.], inviting the public to experience, feel, and take part in the art of contemporary choral music in relaxed, everyday settings.

Five-Senses Exhibition [Tshuài Kóng Lah! Come and See.]
Inspired by five works from the Music Unlimited project — Huck Hodge’s “Time Is the Substance I Am Made Of” (時間是我的構成實體), Kee Yong Chong’s “Shadow · Play Song” (影⼦・戲歌), Ching Wen Chao’s “Tsang Tse” (鑼⿎運動), Victor Chen’s “An Ancient, Leisurely Journey” (古悠悠⾏), and Shu Xi Chen’s “Lullaby” (搖籃曲) — the Taipei Chamber Singers and The Double Theatre have created a nine-day journey through time and space. Making use of the many separate rooms of 埕樂通 and the unique filter created by music and space, the exhibition evokes the feeling of “one song, one moment in time, one world,” leading visitors on a stroll through scattered memories of time and space and into five utterly different worlds!

Dates: 18–26 December, 11:00–17:30
Venue: 埕樂通 (No. 127, Sec. 1, Dihua St., Taipei)

※Free admission. 13 sessions daily; places per session are limited and advance registration is required.
Click here for the latest on [Tshuài Kóng Lah! Come and See.]

Shop Installations [Tshuài Kóng Lah! Hit the Streets.]
The “chamber” choir heads outdoors! Teaming up with 三明治工’s “Sign-Holding Band” project, it takes vocal sign-holding to the streets, linking distinctive Dadaocheng spots — 稻舍食館, 滋養製菓, 黃長生藥行, Xiahai City God Temple, and the whole neighborhood — into “Choral Sound Stations.” Through visual cues, it connects contemporary music with everyday life, using the human voice to bring out a down-to-earth charm like never before!

❏ Tshuài Kóng Sound Stations ❏
Dates: 18–26 December, 11:00–17:30
Locations: 稻舍食館, 滋養製菓, 黃長生藥行, Xiahai City God Temple

❏ Tshuài Kóng on Wheels ❏
Dates: 18, 19, 25, and 26 December, 11:00 and 15:00
Starting point: Plaza in front of Taipei Xiahai City God Temple

※Free admission; drop in any time.
Click here for the latest on [Tshuài Kóng Lah! Hit the Streets.]
Themed Talks [Tshuài Kóng Lah! Let’s Talk.]
Meet composers and theater directors face to face! Leading Taiwanese composers Ching Wen Chao and Kueiju Lin each give a talk, in conversation with Hong-Chen Poo, Artistic Director and Director of M.O.V.E. Theatre; Kee Yong Chong, Malaysian composer and Artistic Director of the SoundBridge International Contemporary Music Festival; and 高端禾, Convener of the Taipei Chamber Singers Artistic Planning Committee. Together they explore how composers carry the experience of everyday life into their music and, drawing on their experiences of interdisciplinary collaboration, discuss the future of vocal music theater!

❏ Talk 1: When Musicians Enter the Theater — Awakening a Sense of “Presence” on Stage
Speaker: Ching Wen Chao
In conversation with: 高端禾 (Convener, Taipei Chamber Singers Artistic Planning Committee)
Time: 19 December, 15:00–16:30
Venue: 課廳 演創空間 (2F, No. 104, Xining N. Rd., Taipei) / ZOOM (livestream)

❏ Talk 2: Cue 1, go! — On the Possibilities of Choral Music Theater
Speaker: Kueiju Lin
In conversation with: Hong-Chen Poo (Artistic Director and Director, M.O.V.E. Theatre)
　　　　Kee Yong Chong (Malaysian composer; Artistic Director, SoundBridge International Contemporary Music Festival)
　　　　高端禾 (Convener, Taipei Chamber Singers Artistic Planning Committee)
Time: 21 December (Tue), 19:00–20:30
Venue: 思劇場 (No. 1, Ln. 32, Sec. 1, Dihua St., Taipei) / ZOOM (livestream)

※Free admission; advance registration required.
Click here for the latest on [Tshuài Kóng Lah! Let’s Talk.]

Street-Interview Series [Tshuài Kóng Lah! Sound Off.]
Ambush on the streets! Featuring five works from the Music Unlimited project — Huck Hodge’s “Time Is the Substance I Am Made Of,” Kee Yong Chong’s “Shadow · Play Song,” Ching Wen Chao’s “Tsang Tse,” Victor Chen’s “An Ancient, Leisurely Journey,” and Shu Xi Chen’s “Lullaby” — we surprised university students, longtime Dadaocheng locals, anime and manga fans, trendy young people in Ximending, and little schoolchildren with street interviews, inviting the public to share their honest thoughts on contemporary choral music!

Released weekly on YouTube for five weeks from 11 November.
Hear the boldest answers and most unexpected ideas from five groups of people:
Click here to watch [Tshuài Kóng Lah! Sound Off.] (see “Videos” further down this page)