The debut Washington Performing Arts concert by one of Taiwan’s cultural treasures

Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “a first-rate ensemble, one of Asia’s best,” the Taiwan Philharmonic makes its first-ever Washington Performing Arts appearance in a wide-ranging program combining new work from Taiwan with European classics, celebrating the vibrancy and diversity of cultures in Taiwan. Led by noted German conductor Jun Märkl, the orchestra’s newly-appointed music director, the Taiwan Philharmonic (known as the National Symphony Orchestra in its homeland) serves as an official ambassador of Taiwanese culture and regularly commissions and performs new work by Taiwanese composers. This program opens with the U.S. premiere of just such a work - Ebbs and Flows (co-commissioned by Washington Performing Arts) from Ke-Chia Chen, an international award winner, a frequent collaborator with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and a faculty member of the Curtis Institute of Music. The program then travels some 6,000 miles and more than a century back in time with German Romantic composer Max Bruch’s ever-popular Scottish Fantasy, a work for violin and orchestra inspired by Scottish folk songs. Joining the orchestra as violin soloist on the Bruch is the Taiwanese-born Avery Fisher Career Grant honoree (and much-adored Washington Performing Arts veteran) Paul Huang. Concluding the globe-trotting program are multiple works from the French classical repertoire, one of Maestro Märkl’s most celebrated specialties.

KE-CHIA CHEN – Ebbs and Flows (World Premiere)
BRUCH - Scottish Fantasy
MENDELSSOHN - Hebrides Overture
DEBUSSY - La Mer

This performance is an external rental presented in coordination with the Kennedy Center Campus Rentals Office and is not produced by the Kennedy Center.

Washington Performing Arts’s presentation of this project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, Susan S. Angell, and Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather, and through the partnership of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO).

Washington Performing Arts’s classical music performances this season are made possible in part through the generous support of Betsy and Robert Feinberg.

This is one of twenty 2022/23 season performances included in Washington Performing Arts’s The World in Our City initiative, which promotes cross-cultural understanding and cultural diplomacy via the presentation of international visiting artists, globally inspired local programming, and the award-winning Embassy Adoption Program, a partnership with D.C. Public Schools.

Special thanks to the following lead supporters of Washington Performing Arts’s mission-driven work: Jacqueline Badger Mars and Mars, Incorporated; D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities; the National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs Program and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; and the Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts.

Accessibility:
Washington Performing Arts is committed to ensuring visitors of all abilities can experience the performances and programs we present. We partner with our venues to ensure accommodations are available. For specific questions about accessibility at our Kennedy Center events, please visit https://www.kennedy-center.org/visit/accessibility or contact us at patronservices@washingtonperformingarts.org.

COVID-19 Health and Safety:
As Washington Performing Arts does not own nor operate its own venue, Washington Performing Arts audiences are subject to the current vaccination and face mask policy of the venue on the date of the event. Please see venue specifics here.

Back To 2022-23 Season Listings