One of the most prominent young conductors in
Taiwan, Chih-Sheng Chen is pursuing further studies of conducting
with professor Lian-Chang Kuo. He started his musical training as an
erhu (Chinese violin) player at the age of ten. He studied
conducting with Ying Lee, and theory with Chao-ying Huang and
Shi-Pei Ding. He began to conduct during his high school years. At
the National Taiwan University (NTU), he conducted the university’s
Chinese orchestra at many concerts and won the first prize at the
National Music Competition. At the same time, Chen performed with
the Taipei Chinese Youth Orchestra, as the principal zhonghu (lower
tone erhu) player from 1994 to 2005.
In 2000, he founded the Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra
(gCO), the first and only independent professional Chinese orchestra
not run by the government in Taiwan. Acting as the artistic director
and conductor, the orchestra’s mission is to perform Chinese music
of the highest quality and to introduce it to a wide range of
audiences. From 2004 to 2008, Chen was the Associate Conductor of
the Taipei Chinese Youth Orchestra and Teachers Orchestra. In 2006,
he produced and conducted the featured concert of the Evergreen
Symphony Orchestra in Taipei.
To foster interest in Chinese music
among young audiences, and to train young musicians, Chen has
designed educational programs and acted as the music director and
instructor at numerous schools in Taiwan. Chen holds a Ph. D from
the Institute of Microbiology and Biochemistry of the National
Taiwan University. His background in science constantly surprises
people. “Chinese music is my true calling in life,” he says.
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