The Evergreen Symphony Orchestra (ESO) proudly presents “ESO 2025 - Jaap van Zweden & Hina Maeda”, featuring two performances: Friday, June 6^th at 7:30 p.m. at the Taichung City Tun District Art Center Auditorium, and Saturday, June 7^th at 7:30 p.m. at the Yuanlin Performance Hall. 

This program is part of a new national touring initiative by the ESO and its Artist-in-Residence, internationally renowned conductor Jaap van Zweden. Aimed at bringing classical music to urban and rural communities across Taiwan and having started this touring initiative at Miaobei Art Center, ESO and van Zweden now continue by bringing a new and powerful program of German and Austrian classical music to central Taiwan. Showcasing works by Wagner, Bruch, and Bruckner, Maestro van Zweden will be joined by the acclaimed Japanese violin soloist Hina Maeda, one of today’s most promising young talents. 

The concert opens with Richard Wagner’s Overture to Tannhäuser, a dramatic and richly textured orchestral piece that serves as a powerful introduction to his opera of the same name. The solemn chorale of the pilgrims is interwoven with the sensual and impassioned Venusberg theme, creating thematic tension and emotional complexity. It tells a compelling story that encapsulates the emotional and spiritual journey of the protagonist, Tannhäuser, while immersing listeners in Wagner’s evocative and sensory sound world. 

Next, violinist Hina Maeda, winner of the prestigious Wieniawski International Violin Competition in 2022, returns to perform with ESO once again. Praised by The Violin Channel as “a highly evocative, powerful and engaging communicator on stage [with] a truly unique voice”, she will perform Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor. This Romantic-era masterpiece is known for its passionate melodies and refined structure, particularly the expressive and technically demanding virtuoso passages – famously revised and premiered by the celebrated violinist Joseph Joachim. Audiences in central Taiwan will have the rare opportunity to experience Hina Maeda’s fresh and compelling interpretation of this perennial favorite.

The second half of the program features Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7, one of the Austrian composer’s most defining and pivotal works. Notably, the piece includes the first use of Wagner tubas in symphonic music, appearing in the profoundly moving Adagio. Composed as an homage and elegiac monument to his musical idol Wagner – following Wagner’s death – the symphony achieved resounding triumph and has become a pinnacle of Bruckner’s artistic legacy. 

For years, the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra has been dedicated to making classical music accessible to the public. Through its 2025 nationwide touring initiative, the ESO is determined to expand its outreach, bringing high-caliber performances to diverse communities across Taiwan. Classical music lovers are warmly invited to experience this richly Romantic program, “ESO 2025 - Jaap van Zweden & Hina Maeda”, on the weekend of June 6^th at Taichung City Tun District Art Center Auditorium, and June 7^th at Yuanlin Performance Hall. Tickets are now available online through OPENTIX. For more information regarding the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra and its concert series, please visit the ESO website for further inquiries.