The main purpose of the upcoming concert collaboration between the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra and Taipei’s Amis KaKeng Musical Group is to highlight the various cultural connections that link Canada and Taiwan. But a second, subtler theme seems to be emerging, and that has to do with the unbreakable bonds that link mothers and their sons.

One of the pieces that the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra will perform, for instance, is an arrangement of the traditional Taiwanese folksong “Adolescent Longing”. It’s an unabashedly sentimental tune, and a favourite of many overseas Taiwanese—including conductor Ken Hsieh’s mother, during the years when she was raising her Canadian-born boy in chilly Edmonton, Alberta.

Hsieh’s parents have since retired to their native island, but “Adolescent Longing” is still capable of bringing tears to Mom’s eyes.

“Every time I see my mom, she turns into a little kid,” says the rising young maestro, on the line from the Toronto edition of TaiwanFest. “I think she’s reminded of her childhood. That’s why ‘Adolescent Longing’ is very, very meaningful for her. She feels the most sentimental feelings for that piece.”

On the Canadian side of the Metropolitan’s program are several works by Vancouver composer Michael Conway Baker, and one of these, too, has made a distinct emotional impact on at least two listeners. As Hsieh tells it, one of Conway Baker’s admirers commissioned the Juno-, Genie-, and Gemini-winning soundtrack artist to write a piece, Canticle for an Angel, dedicated to her estranged son.

“This woman, she came to Michael and said, ‘I want to get back in touch with my son,’ and so Michael said, ‘Well, what did he like when he was young?’ She said, ‘There were three notes that he always played when he was at the piano: B, C, and A.’ So Michael used those notes in his piece, and this person had it recorded and sent it to her son. The day after it was sent, the son, after 20 or 30 years, called his mother and said, ‘Mom, I would like to see you,’ and they sort of reconciled. So people relate to that piece very easily.

“There is some sort of longing to these pieces,” Hsieh says when the connection is pointed out. “I didn’t purposely make that the theme, but I guess there is something like that going on!”

Other aspects of Saturday’s concert might provoke further nostalgic images in Taiwanese listeners, but are more likely to surprise Canadian ears. That’s mostly due to the presence of Amis KaKeng, specialists in the traditional sounds of Taiwan’s aboriginal population. The ensemble’s members will perform on a number of instruments—slit drums, nose flutes, and tuned tubes of bamboo—unfamiliar to most North Americans, although Hsieh says that he, at least, sees some parallels between the traditional sounds of the Hakka people and those of the Pacific Northwest’s First Nations.

“You know, the Taiwanese aboriginal groups are very interesting,” he explains. “If you know the history of Taiwan, the Taiwanese are actually a very, very mixed group. Most of the people in Taiwan came from Fujian province in China a very long time ago, and then of course in 1949, when Chiang Kai-shek fled the Communists, there was another big influx. But the aboriginal people have been in Taiwan for a long, long time, and the interesting thing about them is that when you look at an aboriginal person from Taiwan, it’s almost like looking at aboriginal people from Canada.

“They have similarly distinct features,” Hsieh continues. “I don’t want to make an ethnic stereotype about them, but they are darker in the skin, and their costumes are very, very interesting. In B.C., we have the Haida, who wear those very beautiful black-and-red costumes, with the eagle and whale crests, and in Taiwan, it’s sort of a little bit the same. They have these really big chapeaux with big, long feathers, and their costumes are also very colourful. In some ways, they really resemble the aboriginal tribes in Canada—and they still keep their culture, like the ones in Canada as well. Especially in the way they talk, the way they perform their music, and the way they dress, there are a lot of similarities.”

Taiwan’s cultural diversity obviously strikes a chord with Hsieh, who now calls our even more multicultural city his home. But he’s also quick to point out that Taiwan—which he visits several times a year for both work- and family-related reasons—is like no other place on Earth.

“Every time I go there, I always learn something quite new about the Taiwanese people,” he says. “Taiwan really does have its own distinct way of life. What I mean by that is when you go to Japan the people are very courteous, and when you go to Korea the people are very hard-working and dedicated, but in Taiwan, I always find that the people are so friendly. Like, when you are on the street and you ask for help, like you’re asking for directions, people are so willing to help you out. They’re so openhearted.

“Every time I perform at TaiwanFest I’m reminded of my culture,” adds Hsieh, who has guest-conducted orchestras around the world, including the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra London, and the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra. “And I’m really hoping that the audience will share the same sentiments that I have about Taiwan. It’s got this really distinct personality and culture, and it’s nice that it’s being shared in Vancouver.”