Academic Lecture (148): “Nanguan Music, Literature and Theatre”

Lecturer

Yi-Hsiu Lee

Profile:

Yi-Hsiu LEE holds an MFA degree in Acting from the Department of Theatre Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts. He is now Theater Director of the Trend Education Foundation. He was a lecturer at the Department of Music, Shih Chien University; CEO of the NCU Performance Center; founder and chief creator of La Cie MaxMind.

Since LEE started learning Nanguan music in his twenties, he has been fascinated with this ancient music and hoped to represent it in a customized form of contemporary theatre. Nanguan music triggers people’s imagination of the whispering beings from the ancient times; its archaic charm is perfect for an innovative theatric performance that features deities and demons. So, LEE created the the revolutionary mythological stories, including the first episode “The Drought Goddess” and second episode “Isle of Dreams”, based on the book “Classic of Mountains and Seas”, and integrated with Nanguan and Beiguan music to expand their form of performance in an innovative and affective way. LEE hopes to continue the musical energy and experimentation of Nanguan and Beiguan in the first and second episodes, and creates the third episode of the revolutionary mythology to enrich the tradition of Nanguan and Beiguan music with contemporary creative energy, to introduce this unique and exquisite Taiwanese musical treasure to more modern audience.