In welcoming the new year of 2021, on January 5 National Central Library and Trend Education Foundation collaborated in holding the Multipurpose Performance Hall Opening Ceremony, which was held at the NCL’s Culture & Art Center. In attendance at this grand occasion were officials from the Ministry of Education, artists, and dignitaries from the education world, as well as the media and reporters.
NCL Director-General Shu-hsien Tseng stated, “NCL and Trend Education Foundation began collaborating in 2005 with the first event ‘A Salute to the Literary Giants’ (including Pai Hsien-yung, Chen Ying-zhen, Huang Chun-ming, Yang Mu, Yaxian, Florence Chia-ying Yeh, and Lin Wen-yueh). In recent years, we have cohosted several reading promotion lectures and events, which were well received and attended by the public and others.” The old stage had many limitations, and productions had to rely on crafty stage designers to overcome these limitations. With the wonderful support of the Trend Education Foundation, the performance hall underwent a massive renovation. Now it is suitable for speeches, poetry recitation, plays, concerts, and even traditional operatic performances. It can seat nearly 500 people and meets the needs of trends in international exhibitions at the library. It also allows the public greater contact with cultural arts events. NCL will work with various institutions in the future to provide patrons with even more of such events from different fields. To thank the Trend Education Foundation for donating the new renovations, a special plaque of appreciation was given to its CEO Jenny Chen.
Trend’s CEO Jenny Chen said, “I’d like to thank Director-General Tseng for her open-mindedness and resolution. We quickly came to an agreement, where we would donate the stage and increase lighting control, improve sound quality, change the stage carpet, and put up a curtain. As we welcome a new year, we can also showcase various artistic events in this newly-renovated hall.”
Deputy Minister of Education Lin Teng-chiao attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony and spoke. He first thanked the Trend Education Foundation, those from the performing arts world, collaborating partners in reading promotion, and reporters in attendance at today’s event. On behalf of the Ministry of Education, he thanked the Trend Education Foundation for is attention on public participation in the cultural arts and their desire for spiritual learning. They took action and made a generous donation to renovate NCL’s performance hall. In addition, they actively promote reading, cultural lectures, exhibitions, and performances to provide an audio-visual feast for the public. Such cultural arts events guide the public in becoming more interested in and fond of literature and the arts. This will also expand Taiwan’s influence internationally.
After the opening ceremony, an amazing performance of traditional opera was given on the new stage, directed by the national treasure in Peking opera Zhu Lu Hao. The young Peking opera actor Hsu Ting-fang and students in the drama department of the Peking Opera Department at National Taiwan College of Performing Arts performed the opera.