The internationally renowned Vienna Boys’ Choir will sing for Taiwanese music lovers around the nation in the next two weeks, despite the general economic downturn that has caused many other concerts to be canceled, organizers said on Monday.
“It is true that the recent economic downturn has had a slight negative impact [on ticket sales], but we are still confident as the choir is very famous,” said Chou Tun-rern (周敦仁), general manager of the Ars Formosa Company, which is organizing the concerts.
Chou said that about 90 percent of the tickets for the two concerts in Taipei on next Tuesday and Wednesday had been sold, and that he was optimistic about box office sales in central and southern regions.
The choir has visited many times in the past and has always enjoyed an enthusiastic welcome from Taiwanese audiences, Chou said.
This year’s performance will feature popular songs from several musicals, such as If I Were a Rich Man from Fiddler on the Roof and Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord from Godspell, Chou said.
Many cultural activities, such as musicals and stage plays, have done poorly at the box office or been canceled this year.
The phenomenon could be blamed on the global economic downturn and the lack of long-term government support for the arts, several local art magazines said.
The Vienna Boys’ Choir performed yesterday in Taichung, and is to perform today in Tainan and in Kaohsiung tomorrow.
The choir will continue the tour with performances in Hsinchu on Friday, Jhongli on Saturday, as well as the performances in the capital, the company said.
Ticket prices range from NT$400 to NT$2,000.
The Vienna Boys’ Choir was established in Austria in 1498 to provide musical accompaniment to Mass. Divided into four groups, around 100 choristers aged between 10 and 14 have given about 300 concerts per year around the world.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
A woman who allegedly spiked the food and drinks of an Australian man with rat poison, leaving him in intensive care, has been charged with attempted murder, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. The woman, identified by her surname Yang (楊), is accused of repeatedly poisoning Alex Shorey over the course of several months last year to prevent the Australian man from leaving Taiwan, prosecutors said in a statement. Shorey was evacuated back to Australia on May 3 last year after being admitted to intensive care in Taiwan. According to prosecutors, Yang put bromadiolone, a rodenticide that prevents blood from
A Japanese space rocket carrying a Taiwanese satellite blasted off yesterday, but was later seen spiraling downward in the distance as the company said the launch attempt had failed. It was the second attempt by the Japanese start-up Space One to become the country’s first private firm to put a satellite into orbit, after its first try in March ended in a mid-air explosion. This time, its solid-fuel Kairos rocket had been carrying five satellites, including one from the Taiwan Space Agency and others designed by Japanese students and corporate ventures. Spectators gathered near the company’s coastal Spaceport Kii launch pad in Japan’s
RSS