Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards honor traditional arts with modern flair

The 37th Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music, held at the Taiwan Traditional Theatre Grand Performance Hall, honored achievements in traditional performing arts and music. This year saw a significant increase in submissions, with 780 entries competing for 19 awards.

Culture Minister Li Yuan presented special awards to Manzhou folk artist Chang Jui-kuei and Luan Tan opera artist Wang Ching-fang, paying tribute to their contributions to traditional arts. The ceremony celebrated a diverse range of awards, including best lyrics, composition, arrangement, audio-visual publishing, and puppetry acting.

Liu Liang-yen received the Best Lyricist award for "A Willow Kiss," a Taiwanese-language jazz adaptation of Eileen Chang's "The Golden Cangue." He expressed gratitude for the national language policy, which enabled him to revisit a work from over two decades ago. Liu humorously noted that Chang herself might be surprised to see her work adapted into Taiwanese jazz, adding that language translation reveals new possibilities in sonic intersections.

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Using Taiwanese to adapt Eileen Chang's 'The Golden Cangue' and singing jazz, I think Eileen Chang's eyes would have been wide open if she were alive.

Yang Yuan-shuo won Best Composer for "Suona Rhapsody," aiming to create a sound that resonates with shared Taiwanese memory and can be promoted for international exchange. The Best Arrangement award went to Lee Hsin-yun and Chen Yi-han for "Cowherd's Companion," with Lee thanking the Pingtung County Government and her production team.

In the publishing and performance categories, the Rong Hsing Puppet Theatre's "1895 Yiwei Yinglie Xu Xiang" won Best Audio-Visual Publication, with representatives thanking the actors and musicians. Liao Chun-wei of the Taipei Puppet Theatre secured Best Puppetry Actor for his performance in "Now, NOW," dedicating the award to his partner and thanking his mentors and parents for their support.

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Before seeing Taiwan, Taiwan must see itself. I hope to create a sound that belongs to our shared memory and can be promoted for exchange with international teams.