TAIWANfest's New World Concert forges cross-cultural connections through music
Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra principal conductor Ken Hsieh sees the festival as a chance to discover Taiwanese and Korean cultures
Ken Hsieh is music director and principal conductor of Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, which performs at TAIWANfest’s 2021 opening concert. Photo by Mayowill Photography
TAIWANfest 2021 runs from September 2 to 12 online and in person. The New World Concert takes place September 4 at the Orpheum Theatre at 7 pm PDT.
ANTONIN DVORAK MAY not be the first artist to come to mind upon mention of TAIWANfest. For Vancouver conductor Ken Hsieh, however, one of the Bohemian composer’s greatest known works fits beautifully with the 2021 festival.
Hsieh, who is music director and principal conductor of Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, is leading the opening concert of TAIWANfest, taking place live at the Orpheum.
The New World concert program will include Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95: From the New World.
Better known as the New World Symphony, the piece debuted at Carnegie Hall in 1893. Dvořák wrote it as a reflection on of his time spent living in the U.S. Inspired by African-American spirituals and Native-American melodies, he was expressing, through music, what he was experiencing, seeing, and hearing for the first time.
The renowned piece feels especially apt for the current times, according to Hsieh, with the pandemic having thrust our world into a new normal.
There’s more. TAIWANfest is continuing its Dialogue With Asia series this year, with a new chapter between Taiwan and Korea.
New World Symphony, Hsieh notes, was on the program when the New York Philharmonic visited North Korea in 2008; it was the first major U.S. cultural organization to travel to the isolated communist country. Although the visit proved controversial, organizers viewed it as a triumphant cultural exchange.
“The piece talks about how Dvořák came to America and discovered a new world,” Hsieh tells Stir by phone. “With COVID, we’re living in a new world now. This piece is very representative of what’s going on with today’s society. We’re entering a new world together.
“This symphony has a very special role in Korea,” he adds. “When the New York Philharmonic went to North Korea, the music was a huge phenomenon.”
Cross-cultural understanding and relationship-building are at the very heart of TAIWANfest. For more than three decades, the event hosted by the Asian-Canadian Special Events Association has been celebrating Taiwanese culture while forging global connections through the arts.
The fest’s 2021 Re-think Asia focus aims to spark discussion on diversity in Canada through a dialogue between Taiwan and Korea, which share in common histories of colonization and Confucianism. The festival aims to create a deeper understanding of the evolution of arts and culture in both places and to dismantle stereotypes. There are stories of struggle in Taiwan and Korea related to breaking free from dogmas; there are also numerous forms of artistic expression that are rooted in the confusion derived from conflicting ideologies. Such complex realities are rarely presented around the world.
Ken Hsieh. Photo by Mayowill Photography
For Hsieh, who was born in Edmonton and is of Taiwanese heritage, the festival is an opportunity for discovery.
Hsieh’s parents were early pioneers, having been one of just five of the first families to arrive in the Prairie capital from the tropical island decades ago. As a child of immigrants with a foot in two different cultures, Hsieh says he can relate to the term “banana”. “One of the great things about this festival is I get to learn about my heritage through music,” he says.
Hsieh comes from a musical family, with many relatives who have had successful artistic careers. He started playing violin at eight and drums at 11; it was during his days with the now-disbanded North Vancouver Youth Band where he found himself intrigued by the person standing in front. “That’s really where I began my love of watching conductors,” he says.
After a detour to law school—which Hsieh quickly discovered was not for him—he studied at Royal Conservatory of Music and UBC, earning a double major in piano and percussion. Then fate intervened. “I broke my finger playing handball,” he says. “That’s why I demoted myself to become a conductor.”
Hsieh travelled to Japan, where he had early mentors, and completed his post-graduate studies in orchestral conducting at Toho Gakuen School of Music and Senzoku College of Music. At 22, he became assistant conductor of the Pacific Music Festival (founded by Leonard Bernstein), where he worked with the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra and the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra. The following year, he became the youngest conductor-in-residence/assistant conductor with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, where he conducted more than 100 performances.
A regular guest conductor with major orchestras around the world, Hsieh founded Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra in 2003. The unionized organization provides orchestral mentorship to music graduates, helping them move from student to professional. It has grown from 15 people to more than 60—a group that feels like family. The musical collective has been partnering with TAIWANfest for over a decade.
Also on the September 4 program is “Arirang”, a folk song that is considered Korea’s unofficial national anthem and is believed to be about 600 years old. The song’s origins are unknown, though theories abound. It’s said a despotic emperor would execute people who opposed his views; prisoners began singing it while walking to their death. It’s sung today in both North and South Korea and speaks to reunion, sorrow, joy, and happiness.
“It is very, very dear to Koreans,” Hsieh says. “It’s a very short piece, but it’s very well-known. During a Japanese occupation of Korea, people were not allowed to sing anything patriotic, so this became an unofficial way of showing solidarity and unity. It has a lot of meaning for people.”
Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra will also play “Green Island Serenade”, a popular Taiwanese song from the 1950s.
“It’s wonderful to share two different iconic cultures,” Hsieh says.
With the New World concert, Hsieh aims to bring cultures, communities, and traditions to life through music. Hsieh says he loves conducting because it is so much more challenging, nuanced, and layered than it may first appear.
“You express your own emotion,” Hsieh says. “I remember working with a very old conductor who told me that anybody can learn beat time. I can teach someone that in 10 minutes. But how do you try and get the soul of all 52 musicians together and go in harmony with you, to go with your idea? That’s the challenge of conducting, and I think I have always loved that challenge.
“I’m not an authoritarian but a conductor who comes from within,” he says. “It’s part leadership, but part learning from the group. You might have to adjust your vision sometimes; it’s not always going to go your way—but when you try to get it as close as possible to how you want it, then it can be magical. For me it goes right to that goose-bump feeling.”
For more information, see TAIWANfest.
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