Department of Cultural Affairs

By Jewell Hsu

In 2004, Taipei City Government’s Department of Cultural Affairs set up a committee to recognize organizations working in the areas of artistic creation, education, and promotion. Last year, the committee honored the Ju Percussion Group for their promotion and development of percussion music in Taiwan.
 
Established in January 1986 and the 15th group to be chosen by the committee, JPG was the first professional percussion group in Taiwan and has a highly efficient management system for the global promotion of Taiwanese percussion. Ju Tzong-Ching, founder of the group, won the committee’s praise as an excellent percussionist and an effective administrator.
 
In 1993, Ju organized the Taiwan International Percussion Convention (TIPC), which is held every 3 years. The event successfully introduced Taiwan to the world’s most avant-garde trends in percussion art and thus turned the island into an important venue for the development of percussion.
 
JPG is committed to maintaining its base in Taiwan and showing the world the abundance of percussion talent here by "blending traditional and modern musical styles, drawn from both East and West." The group has played at many important art festivals in Europe, America, and Asia.
 
The Percussive Arts Society (PAS) awarded Ju its Lifetime Education Achievement Award and inducted him into its Hall of Fame for his outstanding contributions. He is the first Asian to receive these honors.
 
A well-known figure in the art world in Taiwan, Ju has served as Director of the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra and Director and Chairman of the Board of the National Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Center, which manages the National Theatre and the National Concert Hall. He was Professor and Chairperson of the Music Department and the Graduate Institute of Arts Administration and Management at the Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA).