Chai Found Music Workshop - A Brief Introduction
           
 
 

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Chai Found Music Workshop is a traditional Taiwanese and Chinese music ensemble from Taipei/Taiwan. Chen-Ming Huang (Erhu), Hui-Kuan Lin (Pipa), and Chung-Hsien Wu (Di) founded the group in 1991. Their aim was to of preserve and further the tradition of Taiwanese music. From the outset, Chai Found Music Workshop has performed Contemporary Classical music as well as Traditional Taiwanese and Chinese music in countless concerts throughout Taiwan, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Over the years, this has gained Chai Found Music Workshop a reputation as one of the foremost Sizhu ensembles (Chinese chamber music) in the world.

Sizhu music (literally meaning Silk and Bamboo) originated at the end of the 19th century in the teahouses of Southern Chinese provinces. The musicians were sitting around a table, playing music and drinking tea. The instruments of Chai Found Music Workshop are the six most representative of this tradition: Erhu (two-stringed Chinese violin), Di (Chinese bamboo flutes), Guzheng (Chinese zither), Pipa (Chinese lute), Yangqin (Chinese dulcimer), Ruan (Chinese banjo or guitar).


 
  Many composers from Taiwan and overseas have written music either for Chai Found Music Workshop alone, or for combinations of Chinese and Western instruments. The group has been invited to international New Music festivals and has teamed up with Contemporary Music ensembles from the West for joint projects.

Chai Found Music Workshop acts in three distinct areas:
 
     
Traditional Taiwanese and Chinese Music
 


Chai Found Music Workshop’s traditional repertoire encompasses these regional styles and historical periods: Beiguan (Northern style), Jiangnan (Shanghai style), Guangdong Yinyue (Cantonese style), Gezai music (Taiwanese Opera), and Taiwanese folk songs. The group’s musicians and ensembles have played countless concerts in local cultural centers, schools, and outdoor venues throughout Taiwan. As a cultural envoy for Taiwan, Chai Found Music Workshop has conducted workshops on Chinese instruments and played many concerts overseas.

  



 
Contemporary Music
         
 

The unique character of Sizhu music and its instruments has attracted no small number of composers from Taiwan and overseas to write new pieces either for Chai Found Music Workshop alone or for combinations with Western instruments.

Chai Found Music Workshop’s invitations to international festivals include: Hörgänge (Austria), Cologne Music Festival (Germany), Music Biennale Zagreb (Croatia), Gaida Contemporary Music Festival (Lithuania), Berliner Festspiele (Germany), Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (England).

Chai Found Music Workshop has teamed up with Contemporary Music ensembles from the West for joint projects: Crossings (2004) with Klangforum Vienna, New Horizons (2005) with Ensemble of the 20th Century (Austria), Alike - Unlike (2008) with Ensemble 2e2m (France).

  

     
  Eastern Instrumental Theater  
     
 
Ambush! (2005)
         
 

Ambush! - a synthesis of traditional Taiwanese and Chinese music, choreography, and dramatic elements – is Chai Found Music Workshop’s first “Eastern Instrumental Theater” production with music by Chen-Ming Huang.

Ambush! is based on stories from the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” and shows the struggle for power between the two warlords Xiang Yu, supported by his wife Yu Ji, and Liu Bang, who prevailed and became the first emperor of the Han Dynasty. After its premiere in November 2005, Ambush! was performed in front of sold out houses in every major city of Taiwan.

 


     
 
Eastern Legends (2007)
         
 

Eastern Legends fuses the popular music of today with traditional Taiwanese and Chinese music styles and their instruments. 13 skilled young musicians are accompanied by Western style Pop, Rock, House and Techno. The repertoire includes arrangements of folk songs from Taiwan and China, virtuoso instrumental classics, and original compositions by Chen-Ming Huang.

Eastern Legends premiered in April 2007 in an outdoor concert in Taipei in front of 10.000 people and has received enthusiastic coverage by the media. In 2008 Eastern Legends went on an extended tour to the U.S. and Canada.
     
     
 
The Journey of the Monkey King (2009)
         
  The Journey of the Monkey King is Chai Found’s latest stage production and the second in the series of “Eastern Instrumental Theater”. It is based on the classical Chinese novel ‘Journey to the West’ and depicts the spiritual experiences of Sun Wukong, the monkey king, and his journey to the West with the monk Tripitaka.

Chen-Ming Huang’s score for the The Journey of the Monkey King is a contemporary take on traditional Chinese orchestral music, drawing on the ensemble’s strong command of traditional instruments. A juggler working with a glass ball presents in a visual form the infinite mutations of the monkey king’s mind. The performance is directed by Chinese opera director Hsiao-Pin Lee.