Formosa Baroque Formosa Baroque
Formosa Baroque takes as its mission “returning to the essence and recreating the artistic ideals of the composer’s own time,” awakening a historical awareness in the music world and bringing back the styles and interpretations of Western classical music from different eras. The ensemble is made up of outstanding early music performers from Taiwan and abroad, including musicians from mainland China, Japan, and Korea, and its close guest collaborations with many leading European early music performers have made it an early music ensemble of the highest caliber. Combining fine period instruments with nuanced playing technique, its performances of Baroque and Classical works stand out in Taiwan’s music scene. Every concert is performed on instruments of the composer’s own period, and before each performance the ensemble engages audiences through talks, period-instrument workshops, and masterclasses. The aim is to build a foundation for early music education and connect Taiwan’s early music scene with the world—an expression of the director’s heartfelt devotion to this beloved land.
Formosa Baroque has promoted early music in Taiwan for many years. Within only a few years of its first touring season in March 2016, it was invited to perform at the Pingtung Nanguo Music Festival, the Tainan Arts Festival, the Chiayi Arts Festival, the Taitung Arts Festival, and the Pacific Left Bank Arts Festival, bringing European early music to the island of Formosa and adding new diversity to Taiwan’s musical life. Since 2019 the ensemble has been invited every year to perform at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying). That year’s concert “Splendors of Versailles II” (驚艷凡爾賽II) was widely acclaimed, and the production was further invited to the “Forbidden City Early Music Season” (紫禁城．古樂季), touring several cities in mainland China to an enthusiastic response from early music lovers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
In 2022 the ensemble released its first digital album, Baroque · Opera · Dance (巴洛克・歌劇・舞曲), which was nominated for Best Art Music Album (Publication Category) at the 33rd Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music. Recorded live at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) on reproductions of 18th-century instruments and interpreted with carefully researched technique, the album pursues authenticity to recreate the purity and beauty of the Baroque style, capturing fleeting moments of the concert and preserving a brilliant chapter of early music performance in Taiwan. Continuing to refine its craft, the ensemble is now carefully planning performances of Baroque opera music, inviting masters and renowned singers to bring the music of the period back to life so that the beauty of early music may continue to be heard. It will go on to present a series of rarely heard cantatas, operas, and other large-scale early music productions, hoping to offer audiences in Taiwan an ever richer artistic experience.