Publication date: 20 Aug 2024
Author: Lee Yi-ling, Wang Li-Chiao | Staff member at the Archives of Institute of Taiwan History

Ninety years ago, in August 1934, a group of young Taiwanese musicians embarked on the first Western music concert tour in Taiwan’s history. The Homecoming Concert Tour began with great fanfare during the scorching summer of the South Island, kicking off at the Taipei Medical School Auditorium. With a packed itinerary, the tour traveled southward, stopping at public assembly halls in Hsinchu, Taichung, Changhua, Chiayi, and Tainan, before culminating in a final performance at the Kaohsiung Youth Hall. Despite the demanding schedule, the musicians delivered exquisite piano melodies and harmonies to audiences across Taiwan, sparking widespread acclaim.

This unprecedented concert was organized by the Tokyo Taiwanese Association and co-organized by the Taiwan Shinminpo news agency. Yang Zhao-jia (楊肇嘉), the tour leader, was the driving force behind the event. He assembled an exceptional group of talents, including Jiang Wen-ye (江文也), who later gained international recognition as a composer, and Gao Ci-mei (高慈美), Taiwan’s first female piano professor. Yang Zhao-jia’s pivotal role in the tour is well-documented in two invaluable private archives preserved by the Academia Sinica’s Institute of Taiwan History Archives: the Yang Zhao-jia Collection (LJK) and the Gao Ci-mei Papers (3GCM). These archives provide detailed records and precious photographs of the performances.

This article focuses on Taiwan’s first “Homecoming Concert Tour,” which was rapidly organized in just over a month. The program primarily featured Western musical compositions. During the scorching summer of the South Island, this grand musical feast unfolded with enthusiasm, traveling from north to south with seven performances. It offered audiences across Taiwan an auditory delight, broadened their horizons, and brought Western music closer to the local population. This tour marked the beginning of Taiwan’s musical diversity and led to Taiwan’s music being recognized on the Olympic stage, where Taiwanese music shone brightly on the global scene.