Night of World Premieres of Commissioned Choral Works

An international Grand Prix–winning choir and five leading composers
join forces to create forward-looking, diverse new choral music

Taipei Chamber Singers, Grand Prix winner of the 2006 Béla Bartók International Choir Competition in Hungary, once again shows its remarkable performing energy. “Music Unlimited – 2006 Night of World Premieres of Commissioned Choral Works,” the first undertaking of its kind in Taiwan’s choral world, brings the choir together with five of today’s most prominent composers: Tzyy Sheng Lee, Mei Jun Chen, Chiung Yu Chen, Fuk Wing Yim, and Yiu Kwong Chung. Guided by the ideas of diversity, innovation, and vision, the project breaks through the traditional limits of choral music and presents brand-new choral works in every possible form of musical and stage performance.

The concert reveals how the five composers fuse and reinvent “Eastern philosophical thought” and “Western compositional technique.” Tzyy Sheng Lee’s three settings of “Butterflies Love Flowers” (蝶戀花); Fuk Wing Yim’s “Prelude to Water Melody” (水調歌頭) and “Three Refrains at Yang Pass” (陽關三疊); Yiu Kwong Chung’s “Postmodern Psalms” (後現代的詩篇); Mei Jun Chen’s “The Poem I Want to Write” (我想寫的詩), “Silence” (寂靜), and “Salute from the Dawn” (來自黎明的致敬); and Chiung Yu Chen’s “The Path” (軌跡) all portray the captivating character of the “contemporary East.”

Having won the Grand Prix at the 2006 Béla Bartók International Choir Competition in Hungary, Taipei Chamber Singers will go on to compete in the 2007 Europe Grand Prix for Choral Singing (EGP) against the Grand Prix winners of five other international choir competitions, vying for the highest honor among Europe’s top international contests—a new record for a Taiwanese choir at a major European competition. Since its founding, TCS has pursued the goal of “refined choral music,” bringing together highly accomplished singers to take the human voice to its limits and create irresistibly perfect harmony, establishing itself as Taiwan’s foremost choral ensemble. At this concert, the five composers will explain their creative ideas and the characteristics of their works in person, so that music lovers need no longer regard “contemporary music” as daunting. While enjoying the choir’s flawless interpretations, audiences can also enter the deeper world of the performers. Appealing to both mind and heart, this production is sure to meet the expectations of every music lover.