The Taiwan Philharmonic Makes David Geffen Hall Debut With Violinist Paul Huang, Presented By New York Philharmonic

The Taiwan Philharmonic - known as the National Symphony Orchestra in its homeland - is honored to be one of the first international orchestra to be presented by the New York Philharmonic in David Geffen Hall in their return to the United States for a national tour this spring, led by new Music Director Jun Märkl. Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as, "a first-rate ensemble, one of Asia's best," the Taiwan Philharmonic begins their American tour in April 2023 after successful tours to the country in 2016 with violinist Cho-Liang Lin and in 2018 with pianist Stephen Hough and violinist Yu-Chien Tseng.

The 2023 tour includes two performances in New York City - a chamber music concert at Alice Tully Hall (April 14) and an orchestral concert in David Geffen Hall, presented by the New York Philharmonic (April 21). The concert in April 14 at Alice Tully Hall is supported by CTBC Bank, New York Branch and CTBC Bank Corp. (USA). In a close collaboration with CMS, Taiwan Philharmonic presents a variety of chamber works by Beethoven, W.A. Mozart, Shostakovich, and Caplet.

Musicians include pianist Wu Han; violinists Stella Chen, Danbi Um, Richard Lin, Hao-Tun Teng and Chih-Hong Tseng; violists Hsin-Yun Huang and Grace Huang; cellists David Finckel, Mihai Marica and Ying-Chi Tang; and clarinetist Julian Chun-Yen Lai, as well as harpist Shannon Shuen Chieh. Recipient of the prestigious 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 2017 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, Taiwanese-American violinist Paul Huang joins the orchestra for the April 21 performance in addition to performances at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. presented by Washington Performing Arts (April 19) and Wentz Concert Hall in the western Chicago suburb of Naperville (April 23).

The wide-ranging repertoire on the April 21 program celebrates the vibrancy and diversity of cultures in Taiwan by including a new work - Ebbs and Flows by Taiwanese composer Ke-Chia Chen (she/her) - alongside European classics. Co-commissioned by Washington Performing Arts and Muzik3 Foundation, Inc, Ebbs and Flows receives its U.S. premiere just two days prior at The Kennedy Center on April 19. An international award winner, Dr. Chen frequently collaborates with The Philadelphia Orchestra and is a faculty member of the Curtis Institute of Music. The European repertoire on the program includes Max Bruch's Scottish Fantasy, a work for violin and orchestra inspired by Scottish folk songs, performed with Paul Huang; Mendelssohn's The Hebrides Overture; and Debussy's La Mer, which highlights one of Maestro Märkl's most celebrated specialties of French classical repertoire. This concert is supported by Charles Chen, the President of Chen-Yung Foundation and a board member of the New York Philharmonic.

Under the leadership of Music Director Jun Märkl since January 2022, the Taiwan Philharmonic aspires to resonate throughout the world as the official cultural ambassador of Taiwanese culture and regularly commissions and performs new works by Taiwanese composers.

Tickets are now on sale and available for purchase through each respective venue. Refer to the details below.

2023 NYC PERFORMANCE DETAILS

Friday, April 14, 2023 | 8 PM EDT
Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center
1941 Broadway, New York, NY 10023

Ludwig van Beethoven: Trio in E-flat Major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 1, No. 1
André Caplet: Conte fantastique for Harp, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Quintet for Clarinet, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello in A major, K. 581
Dmitri Shostakovich: Prelude and Scherzo for String Octet, Op. 11

Members of the Taiwan Philharmonic & Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center:

Wu Han, piano
Stella Chen, violin
Danbi Um, violin
Richard Lin, violin
Hao-Tun Teng, violin
Chih-Hong Tseng, violin
Hsin-Yun Huang, viola
Grace Huang, viola
David Finckel, cello
Mihai Marica, cello
Ying-Chi Tang, cello
Julian Chun-Yen Lai, clarinet
Shannon Shuen Chieh, harp

This concert is supported by CTBC Bank, New York Branch and CTBC Bank Corp. (USA). To purchase tickets ($50-120), call CenterCharge at 212-721-6500 or visit Lincoln Center's website here.

Special thanks to UUIN, who provided the clothing for Shannon Shuen Chieh.

Friday, April 21, 2023 | 8 PM EDT
Presented by the New York Philharmonic
David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center
10 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023

Ke-Chia Chen: Ebbs and Flows
Bruch: Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46
Mendelssohn: The Hebrides Overture, Op. 26
Debussy: La Mer

Taiwan Philharmonic
Jun Märkl, conductor
Paul Huang, violin

This concert is supported by Charles Chen, the President of Chen-Yung Foundation and a board member of the New York Philharmonic. To purchase tickets ($39-129), call 212-875-5656 or visit New York Philharmonic's website here.

Founded in 1986, the Taiwan Philharmonic, also known as the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) at home, has been hailed as one of the best orchestras in Asia. It became the resident orchestra of the National Concert Hall, and an artistic affiliate of the National Performing Arts Center in April 2014.

The orchestra has benefited from the leadership of many music directors and principal conductors, including Gerard Akoka, Urs Schneider, Da-Shen Chang, Jahja Ling, Wen-Pin Chien, Shao-Chia Lü and Guther Herbig. Under the leadership of music director Jun Märkl since January 2022, the Taiwan Philharmonic aspires to resonate throughout the world as the cultural ambassador of Taiwan.

During the past thirty years, The Taiwan Philharmonic has worked with many internationally acclaimed conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Rudolf Barshai, Sir Neville Marriner, Leonard Slatkin, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Christopher Hogwood, Osmo Vänskä, Long Yu, Nikolay Alexeev, Vassily Sinaisky and Carl St. Clair. In addition to performances in Taiwan, the orchestra regularly receives invitations from overseas and has toured Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Milan, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Los Angeles, and many other cities with critical acclaim.

For more information, please visit http://npac-nso.org/en.

Jun Märkl is a highly respected interpreter of the core German repertoire and has become known for his refined and idiomatic explorations of the French Impressionists. He currently serves as Music Director of the Taiwan Philharmonic, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Residentie Orkest of The Hague. He has also recently been appointed Artistic Advisor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Oregon Symphony in the United States. His long-standing relationships with the state operas of Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Semperoper Dresden, and the Metropolitan Opera New York have been complemented by his music directorships of the Orchestre National de Lyon, the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Basque National Orchestra. In recognition of his achievements in France, he was honored in 2012 with the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Born in Munich, Märkl won the conducting competition of the Deutscher Musikrat in 1986 and studied at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. Soon afterwards, he appeared in opera houses throughout Europe, Japan, and U.S. followed by his first music directorships at the Staatstheater Saarbrücken and the Nationaltheater Mannheim.

Recipient of the prestigious 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 2017 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, violinist Paul HUANG is considered to be one of the most distinctive artists of his generation. The Washington Post proclaimed him as "an artist with the goods for a significant career" following his recital debut at the Kennedy Center. Mr. HUANG's recent and forthcoming appearances include Nürnberger Symphoniker with Kahchun Wong, Residentie Orkest Den Haag with Jun Märkl, Rotterdam Philharmonic with Lahav Shani, Dallas Symphony with Fabio Luisi, Mariinsky Orchestra with Gergiev, Houston Symphony with Andres Orozco-Estrada, Seoul Philharmonic with Markus Stenz, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan with Jun Märkl. In addition to his recital debuts at both Lucerne Festival and Aspen Music Festival, Paul also stepped in for Anne-Sophie Mutter at Bravo! Vail Music Festival with Chamber Orchestra Vienna-Berlin performing MOZART Violin Concerto No.4 to critical acclaim. Paul performs on the legendary 1742 Ex-Wieniawski Guarneri del Gesu, on extended loan from the Stradivari Society of Chicago.