TSMC Arts Festival Kicks Off on April 18th with Premiere of 'Desire City-State'

The TSMC Cultural Foundation's 23rd TSMC Arts Festival will commence on April 18th and continue until July 5th, featuring a total of 48 performances of Peking Opera, puppet shows, and music, with 'Desire City-State' as the opening drama. The foundation's executive director, HSU Chun-lang, stated that the festival aims to enrich the spiritual lives of communities in cities where TSMC has factories, including Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung, by bringing sophisticated artistic performances. Each year, the festival sets a different theme to help the public better understand and engage with art. TSMC Cultural Foundation Chairman TSENG Fan-chen remarked that this year's theme, 'Summoning Romance,' pays tribute to German Romanticism, a philosophical and aesthetic movement from the late 18th century that emphasized introspection and resonance with nature, which continues to influence the world. Hsinchu Mayor GАО Hong-an expressed gratitude to the TSMC Cultural Foundation for injecting cultural vitality into the city and fostering positive cultural development. The foundation noted that 'Desire City-State,' previously performed in Hsinchu 20 years ago by WU Hsing-kuo and WEI Hai-min, will serve as the opening spectacle. In addition to traditional Chinese opera, the festival will host the 200-year-old German ensemble, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, in Tainan for performances of Schumann's 'Spring' Symphony and Wagner's 'Die Walküre,' Act I. The creation-focused circus will also perform 'The Little Match Girl' adaptation in Taichung. HSU Chun-lang added that the foundation focuses on international-level artistic performances to bring art to the public, and as TSMC expands, its cultural influence will also grow. (Editor: YANG Kai-hsiang) 20260417