Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra (Taiwan)
Saturday May 10, 2014 – 7:15-8:30pm, Performance Centre, Roundhouse
The Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra (“gCO”) was founded in October 2000 by its artistic director and conductor Chih-Sheng Chen. With over ten years of experience, the gCO has matured into an ensemble of both technical and artistic proficiency. A strong musical force in Taiwan, it represents a new generation of Chinese orchestral music. It strives to demonstrate the energy and passion of its dedicated musicians with every performance. The gCO breathes new life into an art form that holds ancient roots, and devotes itself to promoting Chinese music on the world stage.
The gCO’s repertoire ranges from the classics of Chinese traditional works to the latest contemporary compositions by Taiwanese and Chinese composers. The orchestra also collaborates frequently with the Atlas Ensemble in Amsterdam and Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, commissioning or performing original works by North American and European composers. The gCO offers a full season of about thirty concerts a year at the prestigious National Concert Hall in Taiwan, presenting both the full orchestra of over one hundred musicians and smaller chamber ensembles throughout the year. In recent years, the orchestra has presented large-scale interdisciplinary projects, combining theatre and multimedia with orchestral music.
Other important appearances included the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM) at the 2007 Flying Circus Festival in Germany, 2008 Hong Kong International Chinese Music Festival, 2010 Canadian debut tour, 2010 China tour to Guangdong, Beijing, and Tianjin, 2011 China Russia Summer Arts Festival in Northeast China, the 29th Asian Composers League Conference and Festival presented by Asian Composers League, 2012 Holland tour invited by the Nieuw Ensemble, 2013 China tour to Hangzhou, Nanjing, Beijing, Zhengzhou, 2013 concert at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay in Singapore. In addition, the gCO presents over 60 educational performances every year, introducing thousands of young audience members to Chinese music. gCO was nominated as Ten Best Performing Arts Programs by the 9th Taiwanese New Arts Awards. The orchestra has released three CDs and one DVD.
小巨人絲竹樂團 (台灣)
2000年10月，由音樂總監陳志昇集合一群熱愛國樂藝術、並具有專業演奏水準的青年樂手們籌組成立「小巨人絲竹樂團 (Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra, “gCO”)」，以絲竹樂編制為主，積極進行國樂推廣工作。
自2002年起，積極與兩岸名家合作，策劃一系列「兩岸薪傳」、「絲竹室內樂」及「青年演奏家」音樂會；2007年受邀至德國卡斯魯爾市新媒體藝術中心 （ZKM, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie）演出；2008年受邀至「香港國際中樂節」演出；2010年受邀至「加拿大愛民頓中樂節」演出，並赴廣東、北京、天津等地舉辦【源自台灣】大陸巡迴演出六場次；2011年以【雲山雁邈】音樂會入圍「第九屆台新藝術獎」十大表演藝術節目，受邀赴黑龍江參加【第二屆黑龍江 中俄文化大集暨「中俄雙子城」之夏藝術節】演出，受邀於【亞洲作曲家聯盟2011年大會暨亞太音樂節】演出；2012年受荷蘭新室內樂團（Nieuw Ensemble）之邀赴荷蘭阿姆斯特丹舉辦【2012年荷蘭巡迴演出】；2013年赴杭州、南京、北京、鄭州等地舉辦【印象‧台灣－當代絲竹室內樂展】 大陸巡迴演出五場次，並受新加坡鼎藝團之邀於濱海藝術中心舉辦【寶島巨人】音樂會。
2005年迄今連續獲選為中華民國行政院文建會演藝扶植團隊，並獲得教育部、國立傳統藝術中心、台北市文化局、財團法人國家文化藝術基金會等政府及民間單位的藝文經費補助，在藝術表現上備受肯定。
經過十餘年的試鍊，小巨人絲竹樂團已成長為兼具演奏技術及藝術內涵的新生代樂團；深自期許在每一場策劃及演出中，均能展現台灣新生代樂手的積極熱情，為根植於傳統的國樂藝術開創嶄新的風貌。