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Chih Sheng Chen 陳志·昇 – conductor 指揮 (SOD)
Chen is active on the international stage as a conductor, educator, and arts administrator, crossing between the disciplines of Chinese music, cross-cultural music, and western contemporary music, and in both orchestral and chamber music settings. He founded Taiwan’s Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra (gCO) in 2000 and has produced/conducted over one thousand concerts, including the orchestra’s national and international tours and full seasons at Taiwan’s National Concert Hall.
Chen has been a guest conductor in Europe (Atlas Ensemble, Amsterdam), Canada (Sound of Dragon Ensemble, Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, Toronto Chinese Orchestra, Edmonton Chinese Orchestra, BC Chinese Orchestra, BC Chinese Ensemble, Dim Sum Ensemble); China (Wuxu Chinese Orchestra, Zhejiang Song and Dance Theatre Chinese Orchestra, Heilongjiang Song and Dance Theatre Chinese Orchestra, Shenfeng Ensemble of Beijing Central Conservatory, Henan Ping Ding Mountain Chinese Orchestra, and Beijing, Chongqing, Chengdu, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Henan, Guangdong, Jilin Chinese Orchestra), South Asia (Singapore’s Ding Yi Music Company), and Taiwan (Quanta Philharmonic Orchestra, Evergreen Symphony, Taiwan Chinese Orchestra, Kaoshiung Chinese Orchestra). He has been frequently invited to conduct at various universities and schools throughout China, including the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. From 2004 to 2008, Chen was the Associate Conductor of the Taipei Chinese Youth Orchestra and Teachers Orchestra. He was the executive director of the Quanta Philharmonic Orchestra.
Chen started his musical training as an erhu (Chinese violin) player at the age of ten. He holds a master degree in conducting from Taiwan’s Fu Jen Catholic University and a Ph. D from the Institute of Microbiology and Biochemistry of the National Taiwan University.
THE LIVING WORLD 【生生不息】: Sound of Dragon Ensemble
Saturday April 12, 2025 at the Annex (823 Seymour St. Vancouver)
8pm concert
Buy Tickets 購票:
$19.99 regular (Early Bird $15 by March 20, 2025),
$15 students/seniors/children,
free for children under 12
THE LIVING WORLD is a music and media arts performance inspired by nature, the landscape, and mythical creatures, reflecting our shared curiosity about the world around us. At 8pm on Saturday, April 12, at the Annex in Vancouver, the Sound of Dragon Ensemble will premiere original compositions combining Chinese and Western instruments against a backdrop of animated visuals created by Li Tung. Under the leadership of Taiwanese conductor Chih Sheng Chen, this concert will prepare the Sound of Dragon Ensemble for a return tour to Asia in the fall.
Repertoire曲目:
“Taiwanese Dragon Legends” (2025, world premiere) – Chihchun Chi-sun Lee (Taiwan/US/Korea)
《臺灣神龍傳奇》－ 李志純(台灣/美國/韓國)作曲
“The Suspension of_____” (2023-2024, world premiere) – Tim Brady (Montreal)
《懸》– 霆．伯瑞迪 (蒙特婁)作曲
“Tarasque” (2023, world premiere) – Elizabeth Knudson (Vancouver)
《獅蠍獸》－ 伊莉莎白．努德森(溫哥華)作曲
“The Grey Tree: Shadow to Light” (2024-2025, world premiere) – Edward Top (Vancouver/Amsterdam)
《灰樹:光影》－ 愛德華．托普(荷蘭/溫哥華)作曲
“From the Stars” (2017, 2023) – Lan Tung (Vancouver/Taiwan)
《星空》－ 董籃(台灣/溫哥華)作曲
“The Ocean of Tears” (2021) – Moshe Denburg (Vancouver)
《淚海》－ 莫諧．丹伯格(溫哥華)作曲
The Sound of Dragon Ensemble is dedicated to creating/presenting new works for the combination of Chinese and Western instruments and presenting contemporary music of Chinese roots/influences to the world stage. Established in 2015, the Sound of Dragon Ensemble’s instrumentation has been carefully selected by pairing Chinese and western instruments in the families of bowed strings, plucked strings, and winds, completed by a collection of percussion instruments from both the East and the West. The ensemble’s repertoire represents original Canadian intercultural art music and breaks down genre boundaries, crossing over Chinese traditions, contemporary music, world fusion, and improvisation.
Sound of Dragon Ensemble 龍吟滄海樂團:
Charlie Lui 呂畇初 – dizi 笛子
Paolo Bortolussi – flute 長笛
Lan Tung 董籃 – erhu 二胡 & vocal 演唱
Zhimin Yu 于志敏 – ruan 阮
Jonathan Bernard – percussion 打擊樂
Itamar Erez – guitar 吉他
Sungyong Lim 林成容 – cello 大提琴
Mark Ferris – violin 小提琴
Dailin Hsieh 謝岱霖 – zheng 箏
Taiwan’s prominent conductor Chih-Sheng Chen 陳志昇 (Little Giant Chamber Orchestra 小巨人絲竹樂團音樂總監) will once again guest conduct the ensemble.
Program Notes:
“Taiwanese Dragon Legends” (world premiere), composed by Chihchun Chi-sun Lee (Taiwan/US/Korea), is inspired by a collection of Taiwanese folktales. As people attempted to relate to dramatic climatic events, the appearance of dragons was associated with extreme winds, rains, or droughts. Although dragons are symbols of luck in Chinese Han culture, the Rukai aboriginal tribe in Taiwan believed that the Baralebale dragon god brought death.
“The Suspension of_____” (world premiere) by Tim Brady (Montreal) is slow, simple, and transparent. It asks many questions—the Suspension of Time? Negotiations? The Laws of Physics? Your account? Disbelief?
“Tarasque” (world premiere) by Elizabeth Knudson (Vancouver) symbolizes a new beginning with the imagined rebirth of Tarasque, a fierce mythical water-dragon from medieval France.
Edward Top‘s (Vancouver/Amsterdam) “The Grey Tree: Shadow to Light” (world premiere) is a co-commission with Taiwan’s Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra. Mesmerized by the symbolism of timeless life and wisdom in Dutch artist Mondriaan’s 1912 painting “The Grey Tree”, Top transfers the grey waves, lines, and geometrical shapes to music, in which individual instruments are absorbed into a fabric of swirling tree-branch lines, creating constantly shifting shades and shapes like the murmuration of flocks of birds or schools of fish. “The Grey Tree: Shadow to Light” grew out of Top’s “The Grey Tree” for Chinese orchestra, premiered in Taipei in 2024.
“The Ocean of Tears” was composed by Moshe Denburg (Vancouver), who attempted to take a step towards the much-needed awareness of our common humanity as he reflected on what was happening worldwide during COVID-19.
Lan Tung’s (Vancouver/Taiwan) “From the Stars” was inspired by a Haudenosaunee story shared by Amberley John from her family—the bear clan, Oneida of the Thames. Three brothers chased forever the Giant Bear (Big Dipper) and were able to shoot it in the autumn. The Bear’s blood turned all the leaves red, symbolizing seasonal changes and our shared desire to understand the world.
