Varga’s elegant baton technique is renowned, and his magic is to allow his orchestral players to bring their emotions into the music. His reputation has grown in North America over the past decade, and in January 2011 he conducted Anna Vinnitskaya and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin in a performance of Ravel and Prokofiev piano concertos for an album that won the BBC Music Magazine’s highest rating of five stars.

The Taipei Symphony Orchestra, established in 1969, has achieved countless firsts. It has the highest performance diversity among the country’s orchestras, performing music that ranges from Western opera and ballet to symphonic music. Varga came to Taipei to work with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra in three concerts in 2009 and 2011, and on those occasions his method of interacting with the players during rehearsals, his interpretation of the music, and his conducting style, along with his exacting leadership, directness, and personal charm, left them deeply impressed. When the TSO’s principal conductor position afterwards opened up, nine months of energetic pursuit, with the help of the Taipei City Government’s Department of Cultural Affairs, resulted in Varga’s assumption of the position this year.

Both of Varga’s parents were musicians, and Varga began studying the violin from the age of four. His father told him that music was an international common language, able to convey all sorts of messages, and performers must give music the same care they would when telling a story in order to convey its emotion and meaning. When he was 22 a hand injury forced Varga to give up playing, but his deep love of music remained, and he decided to become a conductor.

Varga has three main goals for the TSO over the next three years. First, he hopes that the orchestra can have its own concert hall. Second, he wants to bring the TSO onto the international stage. Third, he wants to give the orchestra more opportunities to play with renowned foreign artists. “I hope to take advantage of my friendly relations with musicians from the West to get them to come to Taipei to perform with us,” he says, adding with emphasis that his intent is to eventually make the TSO a fully professional city orchestra.

He’s excited about working in Taipei, because of the kindness and enthusiasm of the local people that he enjoyed on his previous visits, and finds the city fascinating, busy, and possessing the electrical energy of a dynamo. Despite this, there is no reason for any feelings of anxious tension or pressure. For him this means full, pure enjoyment of the joys of conducting.

“It is my hope that as we move ahead, the orchestra and I will become like a tight-knit family, moving in unison toward the same goals, sharing the achievements of our hard work, and producing good report cards, making the people of Taipei proud of their city orchestra,” he says, eagerly inviting everyone to come enjoy the concerts he’ll conduct at the National Concert Hall (國家音樂廳) on August 15th and October 13th, and at Taipei Zhongshan Hall (臺北市中山堂) on November 30th.

With his grand ambition and rich conducting experience, he expects to bring a new atmosphere to the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, and to bring it into the ranks of world-class city orchestras. A great many music fans are looking forward to the experience.

Gilbert Varga

Place of Origin: England

1980-1985, Principal Conductor of Hofer Symphoniker

1985-1990, Principal Conductor of Philharmonia Hungarica

1991-1995, Permanent Guest Conductor of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra

1997-2000, Principal Guest Conductor of the Malmo Symphony Orchestra

1997-2008, Music Director the Basque National Symphony Orchestra

Taipei Symphony Orchestra

Website: www.tso.taipei.gov.tw