National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra to perform in Austria, Czechia

Taipei, Oct. 15 (CNA) The National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra announced on Tuesday it will embark on a five-concert tour in Austria and the Czech Republic in November.

Liu Suan-yung (劉玄詠), director of the 78-year-old Taichung-based orchestra, was just named as Taiwan's new envoy to Austria on Monday.

Under Liu's direction, Taiwan's oldest orchestra will travel to Europe with guest violinist Tseng Yu-chien (曾宇謙), who was second prize winner in the violin category at the 15th International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2015.

The orchestra will perform the first concert of its "Listening to Taiwan" tour at the Viennese Music Association's Brahms-Saal in the Austrian capital on Nov. 1, according to the announcement.

The next two concerts will take place in the Czech Republic at Panský dvůr Telč on Nov. 3 and the University of Ostrava on Nov. 4.

The orchestra's string ensemble will perform "The Four Seasons" by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi with Tseng during the first half of these three concerts.

The second half of the concerts will highlight the works of two Taiwanese composers: Austrian Taiwanese composer Shih's (施捷) "Night falls upon the River (Part I of River-Trilogy)" and Chen Shu-si's (陳樹熙) "Singing Festival" from his "Tung Flower Suite" and "Ilisin Ongkak" arrangements, according to the orchestra.

For the next two concerts -- at the Hradec Králové Philharmonic Hall on Nov. 5 and the Smetana Hall in Prague on Nov. 8 -- the orchestra will be joined for these Czech Republic performances by Japanese conductor Eiji Oue.

The latter concerts will feature Czech composer Bedřich Smetana's Overture from "Bartered Bride," Ludwig van Beethoven's "Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61," Taiwanese composer Li Yuan-chen's (李元貞) "Resounding - The Singing Voice of Mt. Ali" and Igor Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite" (1919 version), according to the announcement.

Before the tour, the orchestra will also perform with Oue and Tseng at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts on Oct. 26 and the Miaobei Art Center in Miaoli County on Oct. 27, it said.

Liu, who was principal trombone in the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra from 1996-1998 before becoming the orchestra's director between 2008-2011 and then since 2016, will formally take office as Taiwan's top diplomat in Austria after the tour, he said.