Henry Mazer 

TAIPEI SINFONIETTA & PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

● BOSTON Globe
’’The first sound of the Taipei Philharmonic in Boston Symphony Hall was electrifying’’
Richard Dyer. October 10, 19

● WIEN Kurier: VIENNA Kurier newspaper
’’The ensemble plays with precision and unity the Taipei Philharmonic is of considerable quality. This conductor (Henry Mazer) made Schubert come alive and touch our hearts again.’’
Franz Endler June 18, 1993

● VANCOUVER Sun
’’Mazer and his musicians are totally committed, Mazer deserves special credit for his ensembles wonderful sound; a rich, romantic singing that was intensified by the acoustic of UBCs hall.’’
Michael Scott July 21,1990

● HELSINKI Sanomat Newspaper
'There is power in the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra.''
Annmari Salmela, 17.8.2003

● TALLINN Postimees Newspaper – Estonia
'The fluent interplay of orchestra and perfect cooperation between the members of the Taipei Philharmonic was very impressive..''
Evi Arujarvi, 16.8.2003

● WARSAW Dziennik Polski Newspaper
''Performing exact rhythm...playing with outstanding technic..perfect interaction with the soloist. Honestly speaking, this orchestra deserves the highest recommendation..''
Adam Walacinski, 25.9.2004


The Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra has from the very beginning of its establishment been determined to make and deliver music at the highest artistic level.

A regular guest to European Music Festival's and Concert Halls. The Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra returns to Europe in June and July 2006 for a concert tour to Spain, France, Greece, Serbia, and Bulgaria, to perform three concerts with an array of international soloists at the SULLY INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL (France), a concert in Paris, VARNA SUMMER INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL (Bulgaria), UBEDA INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL (Spain), and at the BELGRADE CELLO FESTIVAL (Serbia), with SONY CLASSICAL recording artist, DANJULO ISHIZAKA (cello), and JENNIFER KOH (violin).

The Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra will also undertake a tour of the United States in July 2006 with Maestro YOEL LEVI, with performances at the KENNEDY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER in Washington, DC, and at STANFORD UNIVERSITY in SAN FRANCISCO .


The Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra's first European concert tour was in the early 1990s, with concerts in France, Brussels and in Vienna at the prestigious "Grosser Musikvereinsaal," one of the World's Top 5 concert halls, where the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra's fine interpretation of Schubert won high praise of Franz Endler, one of Vienna's leading music critics.

Mr. Franz Endler wrote in the Vienna Kurier Newspaper: "The ensemble plays with precision and unity... the Sinfonietta is of considerable quality... This conductor (Henry Mazer) made Schubert come alive and touch our hearts again."

The Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra has subsequently undertaken five European concert tours.

The orchestra's most recent past tours have been to France in June 2005 for a sold out concert in PARIS, and at the AUVERS INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL along with pianist Jean- Frederic Neuburger, Fazil Say and Evgeni Kissin.

The orchestra toured Russia in June 2004, performing at the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall for the White Nights Festival, followed by a performance in Moscow at the newly opened Moscow Performing Arts Center, with internationally acclaimed Russian violoncellist, Alexander Rudin.

In September 2004 an extensive concert tour of Central European followed, commencing the tour with the opening concert of the Warsaw Autumn Contemporary Music Festival with the internationally acclaimed Finnish conductor Leif Segerstam, where the orchestra performed the world premiere of Leif Segerstam's 101 Symphony, dedicated to the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra and broadcast throughout Poland by Polish Radio. Further concerts followed at the Wratislavia Music Festival in Wroclaw [Poland], Music Festival Sacrum-Profanum in Krakow [Poland] at the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic Concert Hall, at the Smetana Hall in Prague during the Prague Spirit Music Festival, at the Budapest Music Festival at the Liszt Concert Hall, and a number of other concerts throughout Hungary and Poland. In total 8 concerts, performing for 6,500 people.

In the summer of 1990, the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra also undertook its first overseas concert tour of North America, with performances in the United States and Canada. In October 1995, the Taipei Philharmonic embarked on yet another tour to the United States for the discerning ears in Boston and New York.

One of the performances was given at one of the United States leading concert halls, the "Boston Symphony Hall." The audience was elevated and impressed. The orchestra received a standing ovation, an utmost recognition rarely bestowed on foreign ensembles.

The New York and Boston media showered the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra with positive reviews, among them, Richard Dyer, the editor of the Music Page of the Boston Globe, who wrote: "The first sound of the Taipei Philharmonic in Boston Symphony Hall was electrifying. The way the orchestra plays is a real tribute to Mazers musicianship. Mazer has a rare understanding of how Verklarte Nacht is constructed, how it should sound and the wallop it should pack. They play with glowing sound, precision of intonation, absolute unanimity of impulse and rare commitment."

In September 2001, led by the Asian conductor Paul Tien-Chi Lin, the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra embarked on a concert tour of Scandinavia to give two concerts in Stockholm (Sweden) at the Berwald Concert Hall, and Helsinki (Finland) at the Finlandia Concert Hall. This event was the first time that an orchestra from Taiwan had been invited to perform in Scandinavia.

In May of 2002 the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra undertook another tour to Germany and the Czech Republic, as a guest performer at a sold out concert at Dvorak Concert Hall in Prague during the Prague Spring International Music Festival with Czech pianist Martin Kasik, followed by concerts at the Braunschweig Classix Festival in Germany, and the Janacek International Music Festival in Ostrava (Czech Republic).

In August 2003, the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra returned to Europe for their Third European tour for critically acclaimed concerts in Estonia at the Tallinn Concert Hall, and at the Estonian Music Festival Glasperlenspiel in Parnu, followed by yet another Sold Out concert in Helsinki, Finland (this begin the orchestras second appearance in Helsinki, and the first time in the history of musical life in the Finnish capital Helsinki that a foreign orchestra has appeared for concerts twice within a two year interval).

The Taipei Philharmonic has won the hearts of music lovers and the support of corporate patrons and grown to be the most well-organized and best recognized run orchestra in Taiwan.

The Taipei Philharmonic has come a long way under the baton of the late American conductor Maestro Henry Mazer. Mazer's selfless dedication, disciplinary technique, and an intricate understanding of the music, inspired the orchestra to produce sounds which were homogeneous in conception and interconnected at all times. Maestro Henry Mazer moulded the orchestra with daunting masterpiece by Mozart, Beethoven, Mahler.

台北愛樂室內及管弦樂團

一九八五年，一群有志於台北文化的愛樂社會菁英，鑑於一個代表台灣精神的音樂文化實為立國的根本，因而創立了台北愛樂室內及管弦樂團。
台北愛樂至今已走過二十一個寒暑。二十一年來，為堅持做出最好的音樂，儘管篳路襤褸，然而台北愛樂屢屢在國內外演出中，不僅贏得樂評界極高的評價與肯定，並且獲得廣大愛樂者和各界支持。一路走來，台北愛樂從最初二三十人的小型室內樂團，擴大至今天的「室內」、「管弦」與「大眾」三個樂團，終於成為在台灣組織嚴密、基礎穩固的民間樂團。目前台北愛樂已經是一個成功的典範，在台灣的音樂史上留下重要的一頁。
台北愛樂的演奏水準主要奠基於已故音樂總監亨利‧梅哲精湛的音樂素養，他以嚴格而獨到的訓練方式淬煉出團員們細膩完美的音樂性，使足與歐美優秀樂團並駕齊驅，並以其精緻的詮釋與大師的風範，獲得國際樂壇的重視與讚賞。二○○二年八月，梅哲走完他人生的旅程，留下了指停時仍琤琮的樂聲；二○○三年，新任俄羅斯指揮家亞歷山大‧魯丁接下梅哲的棒子，繼續帶領台北愛樂，讓精鍊的「梅哲風格」更加發揚光大；二○○五年愛樂20週年，邀請安德里士.戴爾夫斯（前德國漢諾威歌劇院及現任美國密爾瓦基交響樂團音樂總監）擔任詩畫音樂節指揮，與樂團合作默契十足，成功地指揮火鳥（史特拉汶斯基）及海（德布西），又演出關渡隨想（馬水龍）及世界首演詩音交響曲（宋撫遠）。這三場音樂會重燃了台北愛樂樂迷的熱情，為近年來台北最好的音樂會之選，台北愛樂-梅哲之音至今持續發酵，昂然步入2006年。

島嶼的鑽石

一九九○年台北愛樂第一次赴國外演出，地點是加拿大溫哥華及美國芝加哥，當地媒體以「島嶼的鑽石」來形容樂團。二十年來，台北愛樂的梅哲風格已名副其實地成為「島嶼的鑽石」。
為將台北愛樂多年來於台灣音樂界之璀璨成績留下見證，也為了紀念繞樑不絕的「梅哲之音」，「台北愛樂暨梅哲音樂文化館」於此成立，希冀未來台北愛樂在拓展台灣與世界文化的接軌與互動之中，繼續肩負精緻音樂文化傳承之重責大任。

台北愛樂自一九九○年第一次赴加拿大溫哥華及美國芝加哥演出後，當地媒體以「島嶼的鑽石」來形容樂團；1993年，更進軍世界五大廳之一的『維也納愛樂廳』，亦獲得當地樂評家極高的讚賞；1995年，台北愛樂再次踏入美國，征服『波士頓交響音樂廳』；2001年瑞典芬蘭的北歐巡演，台北愛樂樂團被譽為台灣經濟奇蹟之外的另一個奇蹟；2002年更獲德國、捷克兩國三音樂節之邀演出；2003年展開愛沙尼亞暨芬蘭之旅後，台北愛樂堅持為台灣做最好的文化外交；在 2004年遠征之行中，台北愛樂一口氣完成了四國、七個音樂節、十個城市的國際巡迴演出，其中更征服了聖彼得堡愛樂廳、莫斯科國際音樂廳、華沙愛樂廳、克拉科夫愛樂音樂廳、李斯特音樂學院音樂廳以及史麥塔納廳，在國外聽眾的讚嘆聲中圓滿落幕，再一次完成一般民間團體不可能完成之任務。曾獲得的樂評如下：
「台北愛樂氣勢如虹」
－Annmari Salmela，赫爾辛基日報，芬蘭（2003.8.17）
「潘德瑞斯基的曲中展露出樂團柔和又富彈性的音質，在貝多芬的第七號交響曲則展現出台北愛樂全體團員合作無間的默契，並且讓人一睹指揮林天吉精確的節奏與對細節的講究，每個聲部都相當流暢並且能夠相互激盪，樂團成員間完美的合作令人印象深刻。」
－Evi Arujärv，Postimees，愛沙尼亞（2003.8.16）
「樂團所帶來的驚喜是淋漓剔透的演奏…，在魯丁的領導下，台北愛樂的團員們充滿了彈奏的喜悅，而且熱情洋溢…」
－德國Braunschweiger Zeitung（2002.5）
「台北愛樂室內樂團」在波士頓交響樂廳所奏出的第一個樂聲，就具有懾人的震撼力。
－ 理查‧戴爾，波士頓《環球日報》（1995.10.10）
「台北愛樂室內樂團」的表現十分精確而整齊，…他們的演出具有相當的質感。
－ 法蘭茲‧安德勒，維也納《快遞報》（1993.6.18）
「台北愛樂室內樂團」是我所聽過最好的樂團之一，他們的演奏充滿了活力，音色亦極其優美。
－ 威廉‧魯索，美國芝加哥作曲家、樂評家（1990.7）

2004年《飛向俄羅斯》、《華沙之秋中歐巡禮》國際巡迴。台北愛樂克服重重的困難，征服了中歐四國十個音樂重鎮。布達佩斯音樂週演出時，當地電台實況轉播台北愛樂的演出，不僅是台北愛樂樂團的榮耀，更是台灣的驕傲。2005年6月，台北愛樂《寰宇心 台灣情》於法國奧維爾音樂節、巴黎聖‧洛赫教堂以及斯洛伐克首都布拉迪斯拉伐演出，愛樂接受斯國廣播電台現場實況專訪，並剪輯為「台灣之音」，安排日後經常性對全歐洲放送。此次巡演撼動法國奧維爾以及斯國的觀眾，座無虛席同時瘋狂鼓掌十分鐘。
2006年6月《音樂大使──歐洲巡禮》，將於西班牙烏比達國際音樂節、法國羅亞爾國際音樂節及森林音樂節、希臘、巴爾幹半島保加利亞及塞爾維亞等五國演出，透過藝術文化的交流，開啟台灣跟歐洲國家的溝通網絡，台北愛樂更將台灣國人作品介紹予國外觀眾認識，藉此體驗台灣文化的動人面貌。企盼藉此展開台灣與歐洲各國文化、新聞、外交上的頻繁互動，產生音樂外交的實效。
台北愛樂長久以來用心整合國際巡演，並以高水準的音樂演奏，打入國際古典音樂舞台。藉由旋律優美、曲調動人的國人樂曲，領略台灣純良樸質的民族性格與台灣文化之美。透過音樂，兼具東方及西方特質的台北愛樂室內及管弦樂團，拉近台灣與世界的距離，並以精緻的音樂藝術，讓台灣於國際間綻放光芒。