Wen-Sinn Yang Joins Taipei Chinese Orchestra to Perform Tyzen Hsiao's 'Taiwanese Nostalgia' at Berlin Philharmonie

Berlin, June 2 (CNA) - The Taipei Chinese Orchestra and Germany-based cellist Wen-Sinn Yang will collaborate at the Berlin Philharmonie to perform Tyzen Hsiao's 'Cello Concerto.' Yang remarked, 'This piece is filled with Hsiao's deep Taiwanese nostalgia. My own nostalgia is the Taiwanese food my mother used to cook.' Hsiao's 'Cello Concerto' incorporates elements from the Hengchun folk song 'Thoughts,' the choral piece 'The Wanderer Returns Home,' and Amis tribal dance music, creating a warm and emotionally rich composition. For this performance, Jiang Ci-liang has arranged the piece for a Chinese orchestra, bringing new vitality to the music. Yang told CNA, 'For years, friends in the music world have told me I should perform this concerto. When the Taipei Chinese Orchestra invited me in 2023 to collaborate on this Chinese orchestra version, I saw from the score that the composer's work is full of emotion.' Yang also interprets the many 'ritardando' markings Hsiao placed in the score not as structural confusion, but as a strategy to force performers to break free from Western mechanical timing and express the composer's intended Eastern tone colors. The 'Taiwanese Landscapes - 2026 TCO European Tour' will take place on the 3rd at the Berlin Philharmonie, the 4th at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, and the 7th at the Vienna Musikverein. Conductor Cheng Li-pin stated that ticket sales have exceeded 80% and they are continuing to push for a successful tour.