'Black Myth: Wukong' concert wraps up 2-night stint in Taipei

Taipei, Sept. 21 (CNA) Taiwanese and Chinese musicians on Sunday wrapped up the Taipei leg of a global concert tour featuring music from the 2024 video game "Black Myth: Wukong" (黑神話:悟空).

The two-night concert at Taipei's Legacy MAX theater concluded Sunday with an encore performance of the game's main theme, composed by Zhai Jinyan (翟錦彥) and most prominently featured by Venezuelan flautist Pedro "the Flute Guy" Eustache with a suona during the "Game of the Year" orchestra medley at The Game Awards 2024.

In addition to Taipei, the "Black Myth: Wukong Global Concert" tour has stopped in Los Angeles and New York's Carnegie Hall, as well as several Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu.

The concert tour features music from "Black Myth: Wukong," a video game based on characters and stories from the 16th century Chinese novel "Journey to the West" (西遊記), including its legendary Monkey King, Sun Wukong (孫悟空).

As part of the world tour, local musicians perform alongside Chinese musicians and singers involved in the game's original music, arranged by China's 8082 Audio.

According to the Taipei concert's organizer, Meow Meow International, conductor Ben Yu (游家輔) and concertmaster Jack Chen (陳仕杰) led musicians from the Taoyuan New Philharmonic Orchestra and the Taipei Philharmonic Foundation in performing 19 musical numbers, including two encore pieces.

The ensemble performed the game's music using a combination of Western classical and traditional East Asian instruments, alongside Taiwanese musicians including pianist and YouTube personality RuRu Lin (林依儒).

The program also included the game's special rock music, "Flames Have Paved My Way" (有經處有火), featuring electric guitar, as well as the game's cover of "Celestial Symphony" (雲宮迅音), composed by Chinese composer Xu Jingqing (許鏡清) for China's 1986 television adaptation of "Journey to the West."

"Celestial Symphony" is one of the best-known pieces associated with the 1986 television series and is familiar to generations of fans of "Journey to the West."

Moreover, Taiwanese singer Robert Hu (胡家誠) was recruited to perform alongside Chinese singers Qin Yong (秦勇) and Xiong Zhuying (熊竹英), who originally sang several songs featured in the game.

At the end of Saturday's concert, Jackie Li (李佳騏), founder of 8082 Audio, thanked concertgoers and fans of the game for their continued support.

Li said the concert was an opportunity to bring a performance that could resonate culturally with audiences in Taiwan.

Following the Taipei concerts, the tour is scheduled to visit Singapore in October, Bangkok in November and Berlin later this year.

(By James Lo)

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