History

The Texas Performing Chinese Arts Association is a 501 (C)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization that was founded by conductor David Wong in 1990. Dedicated to the belief that music and other performing arts are an indispensable part of the enrichment of the lives of young people, the organization has achieved wide recognition over the last decade, with numerous concert tours in Taiwan and China, and performances across the United States, including at Carnegie Hall in New York and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The mission of the TPCAA is to unite top young performing artists from across the United States as ambassadors of goodwill, and to foster communication and understanding between nations and cultures through performance, while increasing cultural and ethnic diversity, as well as promoting the understanding of different cultures among the public as a whole. The key components in accomplishing this mission are:

• An orchestral repertoire incorporating both Western and Eastern musical traditions.
• A multicultural group of young performing artists.
• An emphasis on national and international performances and touring, with a specific outreach to communities or groups not addressed by other organizations, e.g., the Asian communities in America or those from European cities, or rural areas in other countries.
• Exposure of audiences in the United States to outstanding performing artists from Taiwan, China, and other Asian countries.

The TPCAA is founded on the conviction that music and other performing arts should be shared with a wide populace rather than with a select few, and that the arts are the shared heritage of the entire world, not the property of any particular culture. The arts, like America, are a melting pot of cultures and ideas. The TPCAA's vision is to share this melting pot with the world.

The TPCAA's primary method of accomplishing its mission is via the sponsorship and operation of two major youth orchestras: the North America Elite Youth Orchestra (NAEYO) and the Asian-American International Orchestra (AAIO), as well as the sponsorship of an annual China Cultural Goodwill Tour, which brings multi-talented young performers from China to the United States.

The year 2000 saw a landmark achievement for the NAEYO, with a full concert at New York's Carnegie Hall following another successful summer concert tour to Singapore and Taiwan. This performance at the most famous concert hall in the world was a big success.

In 1995 the organization founded the NAEYO, which for the first time brought together a group of all-star young musicians from across the country for concert tours in U.S. cities and throughout Taiwan. The 1995 and 1996 tours were extremely successful, drawing acclaim from the public and press internationally. In the 1996 tour, the orchestra played at the National Concert Hall in Taipei, one of the premiere concert halls in Asia, and were received by the president of Taiwan Lee Teng-Hui.

The 1997 tour exceeded the standard of the previous two years, with concerts in Dallas, Houston, and Los Angeles before departing for Taipei and Beijing in the "Two Capitals Concert Tour." The summer of 1998 saw the orchestra's Taiwan-based sister organization, the International Elite Youth Orchestra , perform in Taiwan, China, and Los Angeles. In 1999, the NAEYO had a notable spring performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., followed by a successful tour to Singapore and Taiwan.

The NAEYO has accumulated a catalogue of numerous compact discs and several videos from their performances on the tour, allowing an ever-increasing number of people to appreciate the musicianship and performances of the young musicians.

Dedicated to providing opportunities for musicians in North Texas, the AAIO toured Taiwan in 1993 at the invitation of the Taiwan Provincial Symphony. Other notable performances by the AAIO include performing at the opening ceremony for The World Cup '94 soccer in Dallas, at the 1993 Dallas Multicultural Festival, and at the 1992 Ms. USA Pageant, televised nationally by CBS and broadcasted in 50 other cities around the world.

Organization Services

As a part of our mission to expand public exposure to Chinese and other Asian performing arts in the United States, and to help defray the cost of our other activities, such as tutoring, the TPCAA offers a number of services to interested parties: