Swing in the NTU Library: An Evening of Jazz Music surrounded by Books

On the evening of November 11, an After Hours Concert was staged in the NTU Library when the rich collection of books magically receded into the background as the audience enjoyed the music. The concert was one of the events to mark NTU’s 90th anniversary and the 20th anniversary of NTU Library’s relocation.

Featuring a jazz trio, the concert was the first of its kind to be held in library premises after hours. The trio comprised jazz pianist Yu-Ying Hsu (許郁瑛), who had just taken home “Best Instrumental Album Producer” and other accolades at the 28th Golden Melody Awards. Hsu is also an alumna of NTU’s Department of Library and Information Science. The other two musicians were double bass player Fan Hsu (徐梵) and drummer Wei-Chung Lin (林偉中), both noted members of Taiwan’s jazz music community.

The concert was held in the central hall on the first floor of the Library. The hall is an airy space 8.5 m in height and 225 m² in area. The reference collection and current periodicals are snugly shelved in the bookcases surrounding the hall while the raised ceiling and the design of arched windows that hark back to NTU’s old main library offer a pleasant, open view.

This wasn’t the first time that the space had been converted for non-library use. Since the Library was relocated here 20 years ago, many impressive art activities and exhibitions have been held in this central hall. Beginning with the “Spring of Wisdom” exhibition, presented at the inauguration back in 1998, to the special exhibitions curated by NTU’s Graduate Institute of Art History in recent years, the first floor of the Library has proudly witnessed the human imagination at play. The jazz concert was just one of the events that reflect the alternative vision of art.

Meet the Musicians

Yu-Ying Hsu is a jazz pianist and composer born in Taiwan. Upon graduating from NTU’s Department of Library and Information Science, Hsu traveled to New York for further studies and earned her Master of Music in jazz piano performance from Purchase College, State University of New York in 2009.

Fan Hsu lived in London since he was in high school. He returned to Taiwan in 2013 after graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He majored in jazz performance in double bass and minored in composition, arranging, and conducting.

Wei-Chung Lin studied percussion in the Berklee College of Music in the United States between 2006 and 2008, which heightened his interest in world percussion music. He has been an active musician in Taiwan’s jazz music circle since 2008.