Active from 1981 | ||
Location Fongshan, Kaohsiung, Taiwan Website kpcaf.khcc.gov.tw (Chinese) Similar Taipei Symphony Orchestra, National Taiwan Symphon, Tyzen Hsiao, National Symphony Orchestra, Evergreen Symphony Orchestra | ||
Kaohsiung City Symphony Orchestra, also known as Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra (KCSO or KSO; Chinese: 高雄市交響樂團; pinyin: Gāoxióng Shì Jiāoxiǎng Yuètuán) is a Taiwanese orchestra based in Kaohsiung. It is also the only professional orchestra in Southern Taiwan. Founded in 1981, the orchestra was owned and ran by the city government until its privatization in 2009.
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Directorship
Henry Mazer started conducting KCSO since its expansion in 1986. Violinist Pang-Hsiang Hsiao became the conductor since 1993. The current conductor-in-residence of the orchestra is Taiwanese conductor Yang Chih-Chin, who was appointed after an open audition in January 2011.
From 1996 to 1999, conductor Pang-Hsiang Hsiao also served as the interim General Director. Shu-Si Chen became the General Director of the orchestra in 1999. In 2000, KCSO became the in-residence orchestra of the Kaohsiung Music Center and was officially renamed the Kaohsiung City Symphony Orchestra. In July 2007, Hung-Chang Chu was publicly selected as the general director of the orchestra.
It was also KCSO that invited maestro Henry Mazer to Taiwan in the first place, who eventually led the Taipei Philharmonic, then Taipei Sinfonietta, to its fame.
Transportation
The orchestra building is accessible from Dadong Station of Kaohsiung MRT.