Taiwan Today

National institutions are displaying the caliber of Taiwan’s performing arts.
 

With its picturesque grounds and packed performance schedule, the National Theater and Concert Hall (NTCH) in Taipei City draws large crowds of visitors year-round, but rarely more so than during its annual NTCH Summer Jazz festival. This year’s edition took place on the largest scale yet to mark the festival’s 20th anniversary. Nearly 60 top jazz artists played in a series of programs staged at the facility’s indoor venues and vast Arts Plaza. The extensive event exemplified the grandeur of Taiwan’s flagship cultural institution, according to NTCH General and Artistic Director Liu Yi-ruu (劉怡汝).
 

Opened in 1987, NTCH has long played a vital role in Taiwan’s cultural landscape. To the joy of performers and audiences, it has since been joined by other such venues thanks to the government’s New Ten Major Construction Projects initiative announced in 2003, which aimed to enhance Taiwan’s overall competitiveness via infrastructure development. Among the plan’s targets were international performing arts and pop music centers. The resulting world-class facilities began opening their doors to the public in 2016, starting with National Taichung Theater (NTT) in the central metropolis. This was followed by National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, also known as Weiwuying, in 2018 in the southern port city. Rounding out the set are Taipei and Kaohsiung Music Centers (TMC, KMC), which respectively commenced operations in 2020 and 2021, turbocharging the growth of Taiwan’s live music scene.

Arts Trio

NTCH, NTT and Weiwuying operate under the Ministry of Culture-overseen National Performing Arts Center (NPAC). “The ‘big three’ have had a massive impact on Taiwan’s performing arts development,” said NPAC Chair Henry Kao (高志尚). “Each of the state-of-the-art institutions also has large outdoor spaces to help build close ties with the local community.” The newer facilities in Taichung and Kaohsiung are tasked with cultivating homegrown troupes and growing audience bases in their respective regions. In contrast, the more ­established NTCH—along with the National Symphony Orchestra based on its premises—strives to introduce esteemed ­local performers to the international stage while boosting access to the arts for all. Inclusive measures include providing childcare services during shows and organizing performances with relaxed rules of attendance for people with autism and learning disabilities. Both services were rolled out in 2019.
 

Despite their differing objectives, the three NPAC organizations collaborate closely across a wide spectrum of areas, with officials from the respective institutions holding regular ­experience sharing sessions covering topics from backstage management to theater equipment operation and maintenance. Policies, including the decision to return all money paid by performers to rent venues for events canceled during the pandemic, are also made via such joint meetings. Additionally, artistic directors from the institutions meet quarterly to discuss co-productions, resulting in more than 30 high-quality programs since 2019. The most recent cooperative effort, slated to be staged at all three institutions in the second half of the year, is “Song of Pensive Beholding” by top Taiwan troupe Legend Lin Dance Theatre.
 

“Co-productions have emerged as a global trend in recent years, and the completion of the large-scale, modern facilities in Taichung and Kaohsiung provides ample opportunities for NTCH to move in that direction,” Liu said. “They’re also critical to the stability of performers because joint programs are guaranteed to be shown in multiple venues. If a good show is held in several facilities, it’s more cost-effective and a better use of resources.”

Pop Power

The new music centers in Taipei and Kaohsiung are similarly revolutionizing Taiwan’s pop music scene. “TMC fills a major gap for pop musicians looking to take their shows to the next level,” said Sandra Hsu (徐有潔), the facility’s spokesperson. The capital previously had two major mainstream music venues: Taipei International Convention Center, which accommodates up to 3,000 people, and Taipei Arena, which has a capacity of 10,000, she explained, adding that a mid-sized location was lacking until the completion of TMC, whose concert hall holds about 5,000. “It’s quite challenging for musicians to transition from a small-scale facility directly to a stadium like Taipei Arena,” she said. “You have to develop your audience base incrementally—that’s why TMC’s size matters.”
 

The center was chosen by popular architecture blog ArchDaily as one of the 13 most-anticipated projects of 2019 for tapping into a local industry that has exploded in global influence in recent years. In addition to its concert hall, TMC nurtures pop talent and appreciation with its Creative Hub and Cultural Cube. The former comprises rehearsal spaces, classrooms and live houses for small performances, while the latter is the country’s first pop music-themed exhibition hall. Featuring striking permanent displays depicting Taiwan’s pop music development, the Cultural Cube also hosts special exhibitions such as one spotlighting the late arranger Chen Chih-yuan (陳志遠) last year. “The public is familiar with singers, composers and lyricists, but not arrangers. We hoped to change that by organizing an exhibit on one of Taiwan’s best,” Hsu said.
 

KMC shares TCM’s mission to cultivate musical aptitude and educate the public. Both centers held inaugural editions of summer camp programs this August in which professionals guided attendees as they explored musical creativity. The Kaohsiung camp is part of KMC’s Kao Pop Connect project that aims to attract and grow talent in southern Taiwan. Events held throughout the year include workshops on technical aspects like concert lighting and experience-sharing visits to schools in the region by singers and bands.
 

“For a long time Taipei was the sole hub for pop music, and many young people who wanted to pursue a career in the industry had to move to the capital,” said KMC Chief Executive Officer Cincin Lee (李欣芸). “With the new center in Kaohsiung, we expect to dramatically reverse the trend.” Like its counterpart in Taipei, the well-equipped facility is expected to relieve the shortage of medium-size concert venues in southern Taiwan with its Hi-Ing Music Hall, which has a capacity of 4,000 and boasts a sophisticated audio system worth NT$100 million (US$3.3 million). The major local landmark is turning heads as well as ears, winning gold in the public infrastructure/amenity category of the 2021 World Prix d’Excellence Awards granted by France-based International Real Estate Federation.
 

The Taipei and Kaohsiung facilities also look beyond Taiwan’s borders to promote the country’s pop culture abroad. In April Hsu spent several days in New York City introducing TMC and Taiwan’s music industry at seminars during a special exhibition on the ­institution’s architectural design at Cooper Union. Meanwhile, the Kaohsiung ­center is working with Taiwan-based The General Association of Chinese Culture to organize Taiwan Plus, an outdoor pop concert highlighting Taiwan’s unique identity, in Tokyo in September.

Branching Out

NTCH is likewise making strides in connecting with the world. After setting up its International Development Section in 2017, it has built partnerships with seven top-tier performance centers in Europe and Asia, cooperating in areas from co-productions to exchanges of resident artists. The institution also organizes Taiwan International Festival of Arts (TIFA), which brings premier programs from around the globe to domestic audiences while providing artistic directors and art festival curators from abroad the opportunity to view outstanding local works. The strategy has proven successful at paving the way to the international stage for homegrown shows. Among them is “13 Tongues” by Cloud Gate 2, one of Taiwan’s most prestigious modern dance troupes. Debuting at TIFA in 2016, the program wowed audiences in Europe with 27 performances spanning 11 cities over a two-month tour in early 2020.
 

In July 2022 NTCH joined 13 institutions across Europe to form the Sustainable Theatre Alliance for a Green Environmental Shift. Supported by the European Union, the alliance, whose annual conference is slated to take place in Taipei in 2025, aims to stage shows depicting the urgency of the climate ­crisis while adopting sustainable practices such as recyclable props and low-carbon tours. “With its prominent position in Taiwan society, NTCH has taken a proactive role in advancing global initiatives and concepts in the local sector,” Liu said.
 

NTCH remains the most influential performance venue in Taiwan, selling more tickets than any other at 650,000 to 1 million every year. NPAC’s Kao believes the sector’s cumulative clout will continue to grow as NTCH and the recently ­completed facilities across the country join forces to elevate homegrown performing artists. “This rapid expansion of cultural infrastructure is quite impressive considering that Taiwan is a relatively small place,” he said. “It’s certain to have a positive impact on the country’s overall development.” 

Write to Oscar Chung at mhchung@mofa.gov.tw