The 16^th TSMC Hsin-Chu Arts Festival: Setting the Cinematic Stage for the New Arts Season, Electrifying the Community with Arts

Upholding our motto of 'uplifting society', the TSMC Education and Culture Foundation (TSMC Foundation) actively carries out its corporate social responsibilities and has been a long-term champion for advocating fine arts. In doing so, we hope to increase the public's artistic appreciation and enrich the communities' spiritual life. Since its inception in 2003, the TSMC Hsin-Chu Arts Festival has been introducing international theater, music, children's programs and literature to the local community. This year's Festival centers around a cinematic theme - 'Behind the Scenes, Beyond Imagination' - and hosts diverse artistic exhibitions and talks in order to engage the communities in experiencing cinema's irresistible charms.

The Classical Melody that Runs through the Scenes

"It seemed to me that I was hearing the voice of God", the aged Salieri said in Amadeus, a period drama about Mozart. The film, which was awarded with 8 Academy Awards in 1985, is screened with a full-on live orchestral concert and the classical interpretation of Vienna State Opera Chorus. Such a brand-new acoustical sensation allows the entire audience to be swept away, immerse themselves in Mozart's heavenly music and experience the touching emotions stirred up by this classic film.

Igniting Children's Inner Musical Creativity

"A Music Gala for Baby Cubs", another program from TSMC Hsin-Chu Arts Festival, is specially designed for children ages 6 and under. The program invites pianist Artemis Yen to perform Russian dance pieces. Unlike concerts for adults, “A Music Gala for Baby Cubs" allows children to physically feel the piano out of curiosity, or even to climb onto the platform to dance in sync with the ballerinas. Parents don't need to feel distressed if their kids don't sit quietly on their seats. Instead, the parents can swing along with their kids joyously and fully enjoy the beauty of classical music together.

Sailing to the Fantasy World of Cinema

Keeping in concert with the cinematic theme of this year's Festival, we have invited the award-winning film director Chin-Yen Yee to curate a series of 'Stories Behind the Scenes' talks, and host conversations with important Taiwanese film artists such as award-winning actor Shiang-Chyi Chen, renown producer Lieh Lee, director Ya-chun Hsiao, composer Summer Lei and writer Wen-Yong Hou. The speakers, with witty bon mots, took the audience on a journey through the scenes where all their wonderful cinematic thoughts and fantasies are realized. The talks were so well-received that we had an extra talk to treat enthusiastic film buffs.

Savoring Contemporary Peking Opera Classics

TSMC Hsin-Chu Arts Festival has long been advocating classic traditional arts. This year the Festival's closing play is Contemporary Legend Theater's celebrated work, Waiting for Godot. As it has not been staged for many years, this production attracted hundreds of theater fans before the opening, vying for a good view of the two Peking Opera superstars Hsing-Kuo Wu and Hsiu-wei Lin's virtuoso talk. Peking Opera master Wu interprets the Nobel Prize-winning piece with fine Eastern aestheticism: the audience laughed at the characters' madcap buffoonery and wordplay while reacting to the play's subtle philosophizing with a subdued contemplation, pondering on the deeper meanings of the play. The audience gave several rounds of big applause at the curtain call.

The 2018 TSMC Hsin-Chu Arts Festival altogether has hosted over 56 arts and culture exhibitions, performances and talks, attracting an audience over 13,000 people. The festival brings a spring rain of arts and culture that fertilizes the soil with abundant humanistic nourishment, and thereby enriches the audience's minds. In the future, the Festival will continue to host arts and culture events for the local community, hoping to sow seeds of arts education locally and painting our society beautiful and bright.