CHEN Ming-chang - Dust In the Wind 40th Anniversary & New Year's Concert

The 40th Anniversary of Dust In the Wind is a concert born in Taiwan, embraced by the world. In his twenties, after hearing CHEN Da's yueqin ballads, CHEN Ming-chang began to reflect on what it means to create "from the land." Turning inward, he set aside conventional Western frameworks and returned to the yueqin and traditional opera, developing the CHEN Ming-chang Two-Note Chord Theory—a tuning and harmonic concept rooted in Taiwan. Beginning with Dust Tn the Wind , which received the Best Original Score Award at the Festival des 3 Continents in Nantes, France, and followed by internationally acclaimed works such as The Puppetmaster and Maborosi , CHEN has composed music steeped in Taiwanese sensibility through the yueqin and his uniquely retuned guitars. From the Bunun eight-part vocal tradition to yueqin ballads, nanguan, beiguan, and Taiwanese opera, these cultural forms are transformed in his hands into a distinctive guitar language, creating a world music style as vast as the ocean. For forty years, he has remained devoted to one belief: "Studying in Taiwan." With Dust In the Wind 40th Anniversary Concert, CHEN Ming-chang looks back on his path while singing toward the future—a music born of the land, offered as a life symphony to all. Creative and Production Team Singer, Yueqin, Taiwan Moon Guitar｜CHEN Ming-chang Keyboard, EP, Accordion, Erhu, Backing Vocal｜HSIAO Shih-wei Chinese Flute, Backing Vocal｜LIN Ling-an Eastern Drum, African Drum｜CHUNG Cheng-ta Violin｜LIN Chen-ying, LIN Chen-ti Viola｜LO Pei-ching Cello｜KUO Shu-i Team Introduction CHEN Ming-chang Born in Beitou. "Studied in Taiwan." Taiwanese songwriter, composer, producer, guitarist, and yueqin virtuoso. In his twenties, CHEN encountered the Hengchun folk yueqin singer CHEN Da. Deeply moved, he began to rethink what it means to create music “from the land.” He chose to step away from Western musical frameworks and rediscover Taiwan’s own musical voice. Drawing from the essence of traditional Taiwanese music, he integrates modal variation and harmonic concepts into contemporary composition, shaping a distinctive new-century sound with a world music character. Lifelong Influences: CHEN Da; DENG Yu-hsien; LEE Lin-chiu; YANG San-lang; sitar master Ravi SHANKAR. Teachers: LO Hsi (tuning mentor); LI Tien-lu (Beiguan glove puppetry); CHUANG Chin-tsai (yueqin performance and Beiguan Taiwanese opera); WU Tien-luo (Nanguan music); CHU Ting-shun (Hengchun yueqin folk tradition). International Awards: 1999 – March of Happiness (dir. LIN Cheng-sheng), Best Original Score, Asia-Pacific Film Festival & Golden Horse Awards 1996 – Maborosi (dir. Hirokazu KORE-EDA), Best Film Score, Mainichi Film Awards (Japan) 1993 – The Puppetmaster (dir. HOU Hsiao-hsien), Best Film Score, Flanders International Film Festival (Belgium) 1986 – Dust In the Wind (dir. HOU Hsiao-hsien), Best Film Score, Festival des 3 Continents (Nantes, France)