Jaap van Zweden will bring his orchestra-building prowess to Taiwan's Evergreen Symphony Orchestra (ESO) starting in January with a two-year appointment as artist-in-residence. The orchestra, founded in 2002 and privately funded by the Chang Yung-fa Foundation, currently numbers 71 and was most recently (2007 to 2023) led by Gernot Schmalfuss of Germany, as music director and chief conductor. It has toured throughout Asia and in the U.K. and Italy and performed with some high-profile artists, from Lang Lang and Andrea Boccelli to Renée Fleming.

Van Zweden, who makes his debut with the ESO on November 22 in Weiwuying Concert Hall in Kaohsiung and three days later at Taipei's National Concert Hall, is the current music conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic and poised to take the same job in 2026 with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Having guest-conducted virtually all of the major international ensembles, he has been music director of the New York and Hong Kong philharmonics, following a hugely successful decade at the helm of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, to which he brought the international spotlight also bestowed upon his successive ensembles in New York and China.

The idea is to do the same with the ESO.

Van Zweden came to collaborate withe the ESO through the Chang Yung-fa Foundation. The conductor and his wife 25 years ago founded the Papageno Foundation in their home country of the Netherlands. Papageno supports children with autism. The late Mr. Chang was a classical music lover who launched his foundation in 1985 as the philanthropic arm of the Evergreen Group, which began as a shipping line in the late 1960s and is billion. The ESO and the Evergreen Maritime Museum are but two of its Chang Yung-fa Foundation beneficiaries; others include arts promotion, education, and public welfare.

Van Zweden in his comments noted the shared goals of the Papageno and Chang Yung-fa organizations. 'We believe in altruism and the importance of doing good for community,' said the conductor. 'This shared philosophy was a major factor in my decision to work with the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra. We are at the start of our journey, not only as musicians but as ambassadors for Evergreen and the Foundation that supports it. The message is simple and direct: It is important to give back.'

Van Zweden will work with the ESO from eight to ten weeks per calendar year.

Jaap Van Zweden was Musical America's 2012 Conductor of the Year.

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