衛武營國家藝術文化中心 National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)

For the second concert of the Weiwuying Organ Festival, the organ and the orchestra, we will be presenting modest MUSSORGSKY's Night on Bald Mountain and Koji SAKURAI's Last Forever, and as the main course two organ works, Johann Sebastian BACH's Concerto in d minor, BWV 1052, and Alexandre GUILMANT's Symphony No. 1, Op. 42. BACH's Concerto in d minor has often been played on harpsichord, but according to new research by music scholars Christoph WOLFF and Gregory BUTLER, the piece may have originally been written for organ early in BACH's stay in Leipzig. The organ's lead provides a novel and refreshing listening experience. GUILMANT was one of the characteristic composers of the 19th-century "French Symphonic Organ School." The organ in Symphony No. 1, adapted from the composer's Organ Sonata, shows a sense of grandeur comparable to that of the entire orchestra. In this concert, we will enjoy the beauty of two styles, the German Baroque and the French Romantic, which BACH and GUILMANT represent respectively.

  Program  

J. S. BACH: Keyboard Concerto in d minor, BWV 1052

M. MUSSORGSK: Night on Bald Mountain (Arr. RIMSKY-KORSAKOV)

Koji SAKURAI: Last Forever

A. GUILMANT: Symphony No. 1 for Organ and Orchestra in d minor, Op. 42

  Creative and Production Team  

Organ｜Iveta APKALNA

Conductor｜CHIEN Wen-pin

Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra

  Artists Introduction  

Iveta APKALNA

Latvian organist Iveta APKALNA is considered one of the leading instrumentalists in the world. Since 2017 she has served as the titular organist of the Klais organ at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Germany. The January 2017 opening offered two world premieres: Wolfgang RIHM's Triptychon und Spruch in Memoriam Hans Henny Jahnn with Thomas HENGELBROCK and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and Jörg WIDMANN's ARCHE with Kent NAGANO and the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg. Most recently, she has released her new CD Light & Dark, the first solo album recorded on the Klais organ at the Elbphilharmonie, produced by the label Berlin Classics.

Iveta APKALNA has earned international recognition for honours and competitions. In March 2018 she received the "Latvian Grand Music Award", the most prestigious award in music in Latvia, in the categories "Musician of the Year" and "Concert of the Year". Furthermore, she was appointed cultural ambassador of Latvia by receiving the "Excellence Award in Culture 2015" from the Latvian Ministry of Culture. Iveta APKALNA became the first organist to receive the title of "Best Performing Artist" award at the 2005 ECHO Klassik.

CHIEN Wen-pin

CHIEN Wen-pin, General and Artistic Director of the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying), was born in 1967, graduated from the National Taiwan Academy of Arts and awarded a Master's degree at the National University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna. CHIEN joined the Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf/Duisburg, Germany) in 1996 and served as "Kapellmeister" for 22 years. 1998-2004 he was Resident Conductor of the Pacific Music Festival (Sapporo, Japan). 2001-2007 he was Music Director of National Symphony Orchestra (Taiwan Philharmonic); during his tenure the orchestra has achieved several milestones such as creating Subscription series, commissioning Taiwanese composers, introducing an opera series which coroneted with the first production of the complete Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard WAGNER in Chinese speaking areas, upon orchestra's 20th anniversary in 2006. 2014-2016 CHIEN was Artistic Advisor of the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra. In addition, CHIEN was the winner of the National Award for Arts in 2014.

Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra

Founded in 1981, the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra（KSO）taking pride as the music ambassador of Kaohsiung City, has collaborated with a variety of renowned artists at home and abroad, including Josep CARRERAS, Hayley WESTENRA, Rudolf BUCHBINDER, Vadim REPIN, Shlomo MINTZ, Mischa MAISKY and Akiko SUWANAI, to name a few. KSO strives to pursue music excellence while establishing its branding image: in addition to performing classic concerts in concert halls, KSO expands its repertoire by visiting different venues and space, and producing non-traditional performing arts close to the audiences, as well as building up an unexplored arts population. KSO is in particular known for its featured participation in the annual Kaohsiung Spring Art Festival, including the open-air Grassland Concerts, the Amadeus Baby Concerts and the full Opera productions. In the recent 2018 season, KSO has appeared in various opening programs of National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying), the largest performance venue in Taiwan; the performances all earned KSO great acclaim.

KSO has been widely invited to perform in different regions of the world, including the United States, Macau, Nanjing, Shanghai, Qingdao, Suzhou, Singapore, Beijing, Japan and Hong Kong, receiving internationally-acclaimed applause. Crossing national and continental borders, the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra continues to push forward as an international first-class orchestra.

Partner: Kaohsiung Spring Arts Festival