2026 Taiwan Composer Series - Rooted in Taiwan, Embracing the Asia-Pacific - HSU Tsang-houei 25th Anniversary Memorial Exhibition
HSU Tsang-houei (1929–2001) was one of the most influential contemporary composers, musicologists, and music educators in Taiwan. After returning from his studies in France in 1959, he actively promoted modern music alongside his work in composition and teaching. Together with musicians and cultural figures such as SHIH Wei-liang, who were concerned with the preservation of traditional music, he initiated the Folksong Collective Movement. In 1973, he played a key role in founding the Asian Composers League. Guided by the cultural vision of rooting in local traditions while revitalizing them, he helped establish a performance platform for Asia-Pacific music, positioning Taiwan as a leading force in regional musical exchange.
The National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) will present the "HSU Tsang-houei 25th Anniversary Memorial Exhibition" starting November 6, 2026. The exhibition will trace HSU's life journey and creative path through manuscripts, audiovisual materials, and archival documents. It will showcase his intellectual reflections and artistic development across different periods, as well as the inspirations and compositional ideas behind works such as Song of the Burial of Flowers, The Blind, Cortège Guerrier, and Spring for All. The exhibition will also revisit his efforts in promoting modern music and cultural exchange, from The Composers' Forum to the Asian Composers League, as well as historical records of the Folksong Collective Movement and the preservation of traditional performing arts, presenting a comprehensive portrait of a master composer and pioneer of musical enlightenment.
Program
2026/12/5(Sat) 14:30
►Tracing the Voice of Taiwan - HSU Tsang-houei 25th Anniversary Memorial Concert
Curator
LIEN Hsien-sheng
Born in Taipei, LIEN Hsien-sheng has studied musicology with HSU Tsang-houei, music theory with LU Yen, music analysis with CHANG Hao, music aesthetic with TAM Ka-git after graduation from the Law School of National Taiwan University. He has also translated Technique de Mon Langage Musical by Olivier MESSIAEN into Chinese and published it in Taiwan. In 1993, he went to France for advanced studies with the scholarship offered by the government of Taiwan. He studied composition with Alain WEBER, Jacques CASTÉRÈDE, Yoshihisa TAÏRA and Michaël LEVINAS in Paris. In the spring of 2005, he received his doctor degree in Musicology at the University of Paris IV – Sorbonne. As a composer, LIEN was awarded the prizes of Creation of Literature and Art by the Ministry of Education, Formosa Composition Competition and HSU Tsang-houei International Music Composition Award. His musicological works include Modernity and Lyricism in the Contemporary Music of Taiwan and East Asia and Musical Taiwan and Contemporary Taiwanese Music. He previously served as the head of the Department of Music at National Pingtung University and, during his tenure as the president of the Taiwan branch of the Asian Composers League, published Inheritance and Creation, From Taiwan to the Asia-Pacific: Oral History Interviews of the Asian Composers League. Currently, he teaches at the Graduate Institute of Ethnomusicology at National Taiwan Normal University, offering courses such as "Studies on Contemporary Taiwanese Musical Works" and "Studies on Contemporary Asia-Pacific Musical Works."
Main Sponsor
2026 Taiwan Composer Series - Rooted in Taiwan, Embracing the Asia-Pacific - HSU Tsang-houei 25th Anniversary Memorial Exhibition
HSU Tsang-houei (1929–2001) was one of the most influential contemporary composers, musicologists, and music educators in Taiwan. After returning from his studies in France in 1959, he actively promoted modern music alongside his work in composition and teaching. Together with musicians and cultural figures such as SHIH Wei-liang, who were concerned with the preservation of traditional music, he initiated the Folksong Collective Movement. In 1973, he played a key role in founding the Asian Composers League. Guided by the cultural vision of rooting in local traditions while revitalizing them, he helped establish a performance platform for Asia-Pacific music, positioning Taiwan as a leading force in regional musical exchange.
The National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) will present the "HSU Tsang-houei 25th Anniversary Memorial Exhibition" starting November 6, 2026. The exhibition will trace HSU's life journey and creative path through manuscripts, audiovisual materials, and archival documents. It will showcase his intellectual reflections and artistic development across different periods, as well as the inspirations and compositional ideas behind works such as Song of the Burial of Flowers, The Blind, Cortège Guerrier, and Spring for All. The exhibition will also revisit his efforts in promoting modern music and cultural exchange, from The Composers' Forum to the Asian Composers League, as well as historical records of the Folksong Collective Movement and the preservation of traditional performing arts, presenting a comprehensive portrait of a master composer and pioneer of musical enlightenment.
Program
2026/12/5(Sat) 14:30
►Tracing the Voice of Taiwan - HSU Tsang-houei 25th Anniversary Memorial Concert
Curator
LIEN Hsien-sheng
Born in Taipei, LIEN Hsien-sheng has studied musicology with HSU Tsang-houei, music theory with LU Yen, music analysis with CHANG Hao, music aesthetic with TAM Ka-git after graduation from the Law School of National Taiwan University. He has also translated Technique de Mon Langage Musical by Olivier MESSIAEN into Chinese and published it in Taiwan. In 1993, he went to France for advanced studies with the scholarship offered by the government of Taiwan. He studied composition with Alain WEBER, Jacques CASTÉRÈDE, Yoshihisa TAÏRA and Michaël LEVINAS in Paris. In the spring of 2005, he received his doctor degree in Musicology at the University of Paris IV – Sorbonne. As a composer, LIEN was awarded the prizes of Creation of Literature and Art by the Ministry of Education, Formosa Composition Competition and HSU Tsang-houei International Music Composition Award. His musicological works include Modernity and Lyricism in the Contemporary Music of Taiwan and East Asia and Musical Taiwan and Contemporary Taiwanese Music. He previously served as the head of the Department of Music at National Pingtung University and, during his tenure as the president of the Taiwan branch of the Asian Composers League, published Inheritance and Creation, From Taiwan to the Asia-Pacific: Oral History Interviews of the Asian Composers League. Currently, he teaches at the Graduate Institute of Ethnomusicology at National Taiwan Normal University, offering courses such as "Studies on Contemporary Taiwanese Musical Works" and "Studies on Contemporary Asia-Pacific Musical Works."
Main Sponsor
