Kuo from NTNU Joins the World Class Orchestra
One of the three major orchestra and the top 1 in northern America, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra came to Taiwan to give two concerts in Taipei. Violist Kuo Wei Ting is was graduated from NTNU, the department of music. The courses he took during the school not only built a solid foundation of his music skills, the required vocal training also benefited him a lot. There are other 3 Taiwanese musicians in the orchestra, who studied abroad since little or for college.
The Dean of the Department of Music, C. Nanette Chen stated that young Taiwanese musicians recently has topped the list of international competitions, youth musicians have made their ways to world class orchestras. “Kuo Wei Ting studied music in Taiwan and completed his military service before going to the states for his master degree.” Chen said that from these musicians, students in Taiwan will know that as long as you work hard, you can become part of the world stage of music.
Kuo went to the states after graduating from NTNU. “I tried 2 times for this position. In 2011 I failed at the last part, but the conductor Riccardo Muti asked me to try next time.” In late 2013, he went for the final part and was selected and became a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra after trial period.
A native of Taiwan, Kuo began his viola studies at the age of nine. He quickly gained recognition after winning first prize in the Taiwan Viola Competition, and he attracted critical attention as the first violist to win the first prizes in the Hsing-Tien-Gong String Competition, the Young Artist Showcase String Competition, and the National Taiwan Normal University String Competition. He attended the Taos Music Festival in 2008 and was selected as a finalist for the 2008 Primrose International Viola Competition; he also was a prizewinner at the 2009 Tokyo International Viola Competition.
Kuo said that the music class we have in Taiwan is special that everyone has abundant knowledge of music theory since little. This became out advantage when studying at the states.The concert program consists of Ludwig von Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67” and Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 1 in D major” (Titan).