The TSO Chorus was founded in 1993 by Maestro Chen Chiu-Sen, the former General Director of the Taipei Symphony Orchestra.
From its inception to 2019, the TSO Chorus has received solid musical training under the tutelage of assistant conductor Hsiu-Ling Wu, cultivating musicianship in both Western and Chinese traditions; from classical to modern era, developing artistic capacity for performance at a professional level.
TSO Chorus's founding mission is the promotion of musical and cultural life of Taipei, as well as expanding TSO's performance repertoire, giving TSO artistic resources to perform orchestral works with choirs. In addition to recruiting professionally trained musicians, TSO Chorus also welcomes music enthusiasts from all walks of life to enrich their talent pool.
TSO Chorus's comprehensive training program includes vocal lessons, coaching in diction and choral technique. At present, Ms. Hsiu-Chin Li and Ms. Ch'i-Hui Mo are in charge of vocal coaching and piano accompaniment, respectively. Rehearsal is scheduled every Wednesday from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Previous performances include Verdi's Requiem (August 1993) as the debut show, which was subsequently followed by two performances of Taiwanese folksongs and a Chinese-language opera. TSO Chorus also performs regularly at the Taipei Arts Festival and in TSO's annual concert program. TSO Chorus strives to perform as diversely and as frequently as possible annually.
TSO Chorus has also pioneered several opera productions in Taiwan including Carmen (1994); Turandot, Aida (1995); The Flying Dutchman (1997); Pagliacci, Cavalleria rusticana (1998); La Traviata, La Bohème (2000), Rigoletto, Madama Butterfly (2002); Legend of Yao Ji (2004); Modern rendition of Madama Butterfly (2006); Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, Hänsel und Gretel (2007); Manon Lescaut (2009); Rigoletto (2010), Aida in Taipei (2011); Pagliacci, Cavalleria rusticana (2012); La clemenza di Tito (2013) and Eugene Onegin (2015) among others.
In terms of international cultural exchange, TSO Chorus has twice received invitations to perform in St. Dominic's Church, Macau, during the Easter Music Festival, performing Mozart's Mass in C Minor (2012) and Rossini's Stabat Mater (2014), as well as a concert tour in the West Coast of USA. Both were met with overwhelming enthusiasm from the audience and received rave reviews for the choir's outstanding professionalism.
Following the example of TSO as the leading advocate of musical culture in Taipei, TSO Chorus has endeavored to integrate music into daily life, taking into account both sensitivity and practicality of art. Some of TSO Chorus's recent performances include Golden Wedding Anniversary Concert (2011); Beethoven's Symphony no. 9 (2011); TSOC 20th-year Anniversary Concert, Daan Forest Park 'Taipei Metro Music Concert'; Verdi's Requiem (2013); Mahler's Symphony No. 3, TSO Season Opening Concert "Music Summit", Commemorative Concert in honor of Maestro Shui-Long Ma, Rachmaninoff's Symphony op. 35 "The Bell" (2015); American Choral Classics, Daan Forest Park Music Concert "Your Most Favourite Musicals" (2016); Mozart's Requiem, Daan Forest Park Music Concert 'Indigenous Choral Music of Taiwan' (2017); TSOC 25th-year Anniversary Music Concert "Bernstein Centennial Celebration", Trumpet and Voice in Harmony, TSO 50th-year Anniversary Music Concert "Long-Hsin Wen's Symphony of Taipei", Romantic Voices, Mahler's Symphony No. 8 (2019) as well as Afternoon Tea Music Concerts, Christmas Music Concerts and Community Care Music Concert, singing choral music from across all continents, spreading appreciation of music among the public.
This year at 2020, TSO Chorus will collaborate with some of Taiwan's most prominent maestros — Ch'ing-Jun Su and Kuang-Ai Sun among others as guest conductors to create splendorous musical experiences, bringing the glory of choral music to its zenith.
