National Symphony Orchestra（NSO）

Founded in 1986, the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), also known as Taiwan Philharmonic, is hailed as one of the best orchestras in the Asian Region and became an artistic affiliate of the National Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Center, the nation's center for the performing arts, in 2005. Led by renowned conductor Shao-Chia Lü as its 5 music director starting August 2010, the NSO has increased the country's cultural richness and music educational strength throughout Taiwan.

NSO 3+1 String Quartet

3+1 String Quartet, comprising four famed string soloists, HUNG Chang-wen, TSAI Meng-fong, Jubel CHEN , and CHEN I-ting, from NSO, was founded in 2007. It was entitled “3+1” because three male and one female are included. In addition, it also implies this group is composed of different elements. Although all of these four members have a classical music background, their performances have crossed beyond the classical category, and explored into jazz, Cuban rhythms, Tango soul, and dance spirit, among the others. They anticipate that, as a team, 3+1 String Quartet has the opportunity to try different combination each time they perform, revealing music to the audience with the new perspective.

VIOLIN │Chang-Wen Hun

Chang-Wen Hung received his Master Degree from Fu-Jen Catholic University. While in school, he was the concertmaster of the Fu-Jen Catholic University Symphony Orchestra; the concertmaster of The Ministry of National Defence Symphony Orchestra Republic of China while serving army, and he was also the second violin principal of Moment Musical Orchestra. In 2003, Mr. Hung performed, as soloist, of Piazzola’s Four Season-Winter with Moment Musical Orchestra in Novel Hall. Formally, a first violin section player of the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Hung is now a member of the National Symphony Orchestra.

VIOLIN │Meng-Fong Tsai

Meng-Fong Tsai began learning violin with his father at a very young age. Graduated in 2001, Mr. Tsai received both Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Taipei National University of the Arts. He has studied with Wen-Ho Tsai, Chiao-Lin Sun, Lan-Ku Chen, Huei-Ming Twu, and Nancy Tsung. Mr. Tsai has won many Taiwan National Violin Competitions; performed 4 solo recitals and numerous chamber concerts and he was concertmaster of Kao-Hsiung Junior High School Orchestra, Taipei National University of the Arts Orchestra, and The Ministry of National Defence Symphony Orchestra Republic of China while serving army.

Mr. Tsai is an active performer and has performed in Germany, France, Finland, America, Singapore, Malaysia, Beijing, and Shanghai. He is currently a second violin section player of the National Symphony Orchestra.

VIOLA │Ping-Chang Tsai

Ping-Chang Tsai graduated from National Taiwan Normal University where he has studied with Professor Jui-Se Yang to obtain both bachelor and master degrees in music performance. Ping-Chang Tsai has taken numerous master classes granted by many world-acclaimed violinists, such as Prof. Yizhak Schotten, Prof. James Buswell and Prof. Paul Silverthorne.He has been selected as a season-contracted musician of Taipei Symphony Orchestra from 2005 to 2007 and he has been selected also as a season-contracted member of National Symphony Orchestra from 2008 to 2009.

Earlier in September of the year, Tsai has been accepted as a viola sectional member of the National Symphony Orchestra.

CELLO│I-Ting Chen

I-Ting Chen received her Master Degree from New England Conservatory. Upon her returning to Taiwan, Ms. Chen devoted herself in performing different types of music and many concerts. Ms. Chen received high praise, regardless in solo recitals or chamber music concerts Ms. Chen was the Acting Associate Cello Principal of Evergreen Symphony Orchestra and joined the National Symphony Orchestra as cello section player in 2004

Taiwan's King of Drumming – Rich Huang

Born in Kaohsiung City in 1950, Mr. Rich Huang fell in love with music since his early childhood. He started to learn the classical guitar when he was eight years old, and at the age of 14 he became a Jazz drum kit apprentice at some night club where he also learned to play several musical instruments including harmonica, acoustic guitar, bass, piano, electronic organ, and so on. He started his career as a professional Jazz drummer in 1967, took on the drummer at the US Army Club of the Taichung Ching Chuan Kang in 1968, served as the snare drummer of the marching band in 1971 when he did his military service at the ROC AirBorne Paratroop Command, became the drummer of TTV’s Big Band in 1974, expanded his career to both dub in background music (Jazz drum kit) and record percussion music for movies, TV, advertisements, phonograph records, etc., in 1975, and became a full-time drummer as well as percussion musician in 1976. In a nutshell, Mr. Huang is one of Taiwan’s renowned musicians for he has been recording pop music for over 30 years with 40-year experience and qualifications in music.

The NDHU Jazz Band

The NDHU’s Department of Music is the first of its kind in Taiwan that provides students with a major in Jazz as well as a Jazz Program ; moreover, the Department also regards the Jazz Band as one major development departing from classical music as the foundation to both integrate with the present-day music forms and create more possibilities. The Band is under the guidance of Prof. Stacey Wei; Band members are required to not only play Jazz music but also study Jazz theories. Although the Band just came to existence for merely a semester, it already received favourable reviews. Furthermore, since the members have been so much willing to learn, the Band has appeared in several NDHU’s major events, such as the Lakeside Jazz Afternoon, the Jazz Christmas Banquet, and the Anniversary Celebration Concert. As a matter of fact, the establishment of NDHU's Jazz Program immediately started the trend of learning Jazz in Taiwan, and further set up a landmark regarding the music education in Taiwan.

The NDHU Symphony Orchestra

The NDHU Symphony Orchestra was originally the Orchestra of Music Department at National Hualien University of Education (NHUE). Although the Orchestra at the beginning had only a small group of music-majored students with also a small range of musical instruments, the growth was steady under the guidance of Prof. Ming-Che Wang and Prof. Shih-Yu Lin. In 2007 Prof. Ke-Shu Shen succeeded the Conductor, and in 2012 Prof. Alton Thompson also joined to co-conduct the Orchestra so that the training has become more diverse, international, and quality.

After the merger of NDHU and NHUE, due to the full support from the NDHU, the College of The Arts, and the Department of Music, the Orchestra has been in the recent years not only recruiting more members and increasing its musical instruments, but also performing more songs and appearing in several major celebrations, festivities, and international communication events and gaining wonderful reputations.

The NDHU Symphony Orchestra hopes to serve the university and the general public with music by incorporating exquisite classical music into people’s daily lives, i.e. by providing the common people with public arts and strengthening the local artistic and cultural education to increase the popularization of music in communities; meanwhile, showcasing via a series of concerts and other musical events the excellent outcome of the Music Department so that the entire faculty and students are able to compose a new chapter regarding musical performances, and further step on the national stage to provide the audience with both wonderful melodies and peaceful minds.

The NDHU Wind Club

The NDHU Wind Club was founded in 2001 by two students, Chu-Yu Lee and Chia-Hsun Chen, who later were joined by some wind music lovers. In 2002 the Club invited Ms Joy Shyu, Tso-Yin, to be its Instructor, then Mr. Kuang-Yun Chang, Ms Suan-Ju Ma, and now Ms Shyu has returned to guide the Club again.

Due to the help of all the teachers and the passion of all the members upon wind music, the Club has not only completed its structure and musical instruments step by step, but also created outstanding achievement, such as wining the Award of Excellence four years in a row at Taiwan’s North District Wind Music Contest, winning the Silver Pheasant Award three years in a row at NDHU’s Club Evaluation, wining Golden Pheasant Award two years in a row, and in 2012 wining the Award of Excellence at the National Wind Music – Instrumental Ensemble Group B.

Although the Club is rather “young”, each and every member has expressed his/her own devotion and attachment hoping to deliver the best musical performance, and to establish wonder interactions with other bands so that everyone can make constant improvement and to eventually bring the performance to a higher level.

The Dance Troupe of the College of Indigenous Studies, National Dong Hwa University

This eight-year-old Dance Troupe consists of those NDHU students who are interested in indigenous music and dance cultures. To be more specific, the Dance Troupe consists of indigenous youths from different tribal units who spend their after-school hours sharing, learning, and knowing more about the beauty of indigenous music and dance cultures here in Taiwan. The first objective of the Dance Troupe is to display the beauty of Taiwan’s indigenous cultures by presenting the music and dances of different tribal units and conducting related field studies; the second, reviving those indigenous cultures that are in imminent danger and firing up the enthusiasm for learning the traditional tribal cultures.

The Pop Music Club, Wind Club, Guitar Club, and Other Clubs

By playing pop music or rock music, the Pop Music Club is able to reflect the likes of the general public for band cultures, and to further encourage students to write their own songs.

The Wind Club plays the music in-between pop music and classical music. Since the Club has a large number of brass-wind instruments, when it plays outdoor, it is easier to show the harmonic and magnificent Mother Nature.

With its brisk style, the Guitar Club is expected to create a different atmosphere via singing for the Festival.

【2014 NDHU Grass Arts Festival】

Date：2014-03-15（Sat.）
Time	Program
09：30 - 09：55	The NDHU Symphony Orchestra
10：00 - 10：30	The Pop Music Club, Wind Club, Guitar Club
10：35 - 10：50	The Dance Troupe of the College of Indigenous Studies, National Dong Hwa University
10：55 - 11：20	The NDHU Wind Club
11：25 - 11：55	NSO 3+1 String Quartet
12：00 - 12：30	The NDHU Jazz Band & Taiwan's King of Drumming – Rich Huang

▼The location is between Administration Building and Library in NDHU.

President & Academician Maw-Kuen Wu

The Originator's Remarks

The National Dong Hwa University is exceptionally rich in beautiful landscapes; the Department of Music is Taiwan’s first department that sets up a Jazz Program. Therefore, I always think about how to incorporate such special experience into the campus so that in addition to studying hard our students can also have the first-hand taste of the local feelings and expressions.

All Grass Arts Festival are deeply loved by the general public – domestic or overseas – but mainly featuring pop music. Here we have beautiful lawns, and we have a Jazz Band. Why don’t we make the two meet each other? That’s how I had the idea of this Grass Music Festival. Moreover, since Prof. Wei has performed in several noted domestic as well as overseas concerts, I believe that his rich experience will definitely inject a different perspective into our Festival and further leads a new trend.

In addition to the NDHU Jazz Band, the Grass Arts Festival also features NDHU's all-time champion, the Dance Troupe of The College of Indigenous Studies, Mr. Rich Huang, Taiwan's King of Drumming, and the National Symphony Orchestra to deliver an once-in-a-lifetime performance that combines tradition and innovation. The NDHU sincerely welcomes everybody to enjoy Jazz, classical, and pop music, a feast of tradition and local specialties.

MAW-KUEN WU / 2014

Introduction

MAW-KUEN WU / President & Professor of Physics, National Dong Hwa University

Education

1981 Ph. D., Physics, University of Houston, USA
1975 M.S., Physics, Tamkang University, Taiwan
1973 B.S., Physics, Tamkang University, Taiwan

Experience

2006-present Director, Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
2004-2006 Minister, The ROC National Science Council
2004-2007 Director, Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica
2004-2008 Deputy Minister, The ROC National Science Council
1994-present Professor, National Tsing Hua University
1992-1995 Director, Materials Science Center, National Tsing Hua University
1989-1993 Visiting Chair Professor, National Tsing Hua University
1988-1993 Professor of Applied Physics, Columbia University
1987-1988 Professor of Physics, University of Alabama in Huntsville
1984-1987 Assistant Professor of Physics, University of Alabama in Huntsville
1982-1984 Research Scientist in Physics, University of Houston
1981 Ph. D., Physics, University of Houston, USA
1975 M.S., Physics, Tamkang University, Taiwan
1973 B.S., Physics, Tamkang University, Taiwan

Assistant Professor Stacey Wei, Kuang-Hao

The Curator's Remarks

Art shall return to its purest simplicity, specialty, and heritance.

Ever since last year when I stepped into the NDHU campus – even though I came with a mission to introduce Jazz music into the Department of Music, the fun-loving nature running through my blood vessels indeed made me feel restless – I have been wondering if it is possible to set up here in this beautiful campus a stage which stands aloof from worldly success and where our students get to play with national even international teams. How wonderful it truly will be if all the abovementioned parties can share this stage simply built up for art!

It never occurred to me that such a luxurious idea would come true this fast.

I have played the role as the curator of some large-scale exhibitions, and I have acquired rich experience and profound realization. As far as I am concerned, I do care about how professional a “program” appears and how much the audience can be wowed, but what I care the most is whether or not the professional experience and skills can be passed on to the next generation. Although I cannot run away from this society filled everywhere with a commercial atmosphere, I still feel like to preserve some core values for the next-generation musicians or artists to reflect on and depart from.

And, this is just a start for art in NDHU will sprout and grow well.

Wei, Kuang-Hao / 2014

Introduction

Stacey Wei /Assistant Professor of Department of Music ,National Dong Hwa University

Experience

Stacey Wei, a Taiwanese Jazz Trumpeter, assistant professor of National Dong Hwa University Music Department, he started playing the trumpet at age 13 in junior high school band class, where he was taught by Mr. Chong-Shi Chou.  He graduated from the City University of New York at Queens College with a master degree in jazz performance.  Wei's music instructors include Prof. Michael Philip Mossman and Prof. Antonio Hart of Queens College CUNY, as well as Dr. John Van Deurson, noted trombonist player and former assistant conductor at Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra.

Wei is the current Director to “Summer Jazz Camp & Outdoor Jazz Program” of National Theater and Concert Hall since 2008. He was appointed as the Music Director of 2010 Taichung Jazz Festival.

Over the year Wei has worked with Albet “Tootie” Heath, Michael Philip Mossman, Antonio Hart, Alex Sipiagin, Eric Miyashiro, Kotaro Kamei, Java Five, Taipei Philharmonic Jazz Big Band, Sirens Concert Band, Taipei Jazz Ensemble, Tao Yuan Symphonic Band, Cool-Phone Concert Band, Rocco Band, and the Brown Sugar Impressions Big Band, etc.

Stacey current is the Yamaha Artist and Endorsor since 2009.

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