Taipei, Sept. 4 (CNA) An upcoming concert and art exhibit in Taipei to celebrate the first Tang Prize aim to showcase the "spirit of the East," the foundation behind what is being called the Nobel Prize of Asia said Thursday.
The Tang Prize Concert on Sept. 16 will feature Taiwanese opera master Liao Chiung-chih, Peking opera diva Wei Hai-min, opera singer Mewas Lin and the Taiwan Philharmonic in a series of performances that blend traditional Chinese opera with Western symphony.
Chung Yiu-kwong, general director of the Taipei Chinese Orchestra, has composed an overture for the Tang Prize that features both Western instruments such as trumpets and Chinese ones such as the oboe-like suona and bronze bells called bianzhong.
"We hope to combine the features of Eastern and Western musical instruments in the overture... and create a dialogue between the East and the West," Tang Prize Head Musical Director Chang Chen-chieh said at a press conference to announce the events.
The performances will take place at the National Concert Hall.
Meanwhile, the National Palace Museum is preparing an exhibition of select paintings and calligraphy from China's Tang Dynasty (619-907) -- from which the Tang Prize takes its name -- and the Song Dynasty (960-1279) starting Friday.
The Sept. 5-28 exhibition includes celebrated works such as "Ode on Pied Wagtails," calligraphy by Emperor Xuanzong (685-762); "Traveling Through Mountains in Spring," a painting by Li Zhaodao (675-758); and "Emperor Minghuang Playing Go" a painting by Zhou Wenju (907-975), according to Liu Fang-ju, section chief of the museum's Department of Painting and Calligraphy.
The concert and exhibition are part of the celebrations for the inaugural Tang Prize and are the core of Tang Prize Week events, which last Sept. 15-21.
Also on Thursday, the Tang Prize Foundation unveiled one of the medals, designed by Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa and manufactured by Taiwan's Central Mint.
The 6.6-centimeter-diameter medals are made of pure gold and have the names of the laureates and descriptions of their prizes engraved on the surface.
The Tang Prize was established in 2012 by Taiwanese entrepreneur Samuel Yin to honor leaders in four fields: sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, sinology and rule of law.
(By Christie Chen)ENDITEM/WH
