Lin's Culture Focus

Symbiosis of Sound: Where Differences Become Creative Possibilities

Lin’s Culture Focus presents Symbiosis of Sound, bringing together five artists from diverse musical backgrounds: Ken Ueno, Rex Chen (誠意重), Yen-Hsuan Wu (吳妍萱), Hsiao-Feng Lin (林小楓), and Xiao Liu (小劉). Through an interplay of voice, electronics, guzheng, bamboo flute, and saxophone, the artists embark on an open-ended exploration of contemporary music and improvisation.

When traditional instruments encounter electronic experimentation, and distinct techniques and musical ideas converge, music becomes more than the presentation of established forms. It becomes a dialogue unfolding in real time. Drawing on their individual artistic practices and sonic vocabularies, the five musicians will listen, respond, and interact with one another, exploring the possibilities that emerge between familiarity and strangeness, structure and chaos.

Ken Ueno: Exploring the Boundaries of the Human Voice

Ken Ueno is a composer and Professor of Composition at the University of California, Berkeley. A recipient of the Rome Prize and the Berlin Prize, his work spans contemporary composition, experimental vocal performance, improvisation, and sound art. He is particularly known for his distinctive extended vocal techniques, using throat singing, overtone production, and multiphonic vocalization to investigate the limits of the human voice and expand its possibilities as a musical instrument.

For Ueno, sound is not merely a medium for music, but also a means of exploring the relationships between the body, space, and perception. By challenging conventional classifications of sound and established approaches to performance, he transforms breath, resonance, and timbral variation into vivid sonic experiences that unfold in real time.

Ueno’s exploration of the voice and the boundaries of sound resonates with the central concerns of this performance: sonic experimentation and spontaneous creation. As different artistic approaches and performance practices converge, sound moves beyond the conventional categories of musical instruments, opening new possibilities through attentive listening and real-time interaction.

From Taichung: An Independent Network of Experimental Sound

Rex Chen and Xiao Liu have long been active in Taichung’s experimental music, free improvisation, and noise scenes. Through their respective practices, they continue to explore the expressive possibilities of sound.

In 2019, they formed the free-improvisation trio Shen Xian Lao Hu Gou (神仙老虎狗) with artist Miao Gong Jun Yang (妙工俊陽). Through Achilles JAM, they regularly bring together musicians from diverse backgrounds and disciplines for improvisational encounters and experimental performances.

These gatherings are more than performance opportunities. They provide a space for independent collaboration, attentive listening, and collective experimentation. Through encounters between contrasting sonic vocabularies and spontaneous musical interactions, an experimental sound network has gradually developed around Taichung, extending outward through connections among artists and across musical disciplines.

From Taichung to Japan: An Ongoing International Dialogue

This spirit of exchange resonates with Lin’s Culture Focus and its ongoing commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration and international musical dialogue.

In 2025, Ken Ueno and Hsiao-Feng Lin separately participated in improvisational sessions at Achilles JAM in Taichung. In January 2026, Hsiao-Feng Lin and Yen-Hsuan Wu traveled to Japan to perform alongside experimental musician Otomo Yoshihide, where Ken Ueno was also present in the audience.

From Taichung’s independent experimental music scene to cross-cultural encounters in Japan, and now to this gathering in Taipei, the connections between these musicians continue to develop across cities and cultural contexts. These encounters are not isolated events, but part of an ongoing process built through shared experiences, mutual listening, and artistic exchange. Each new combination creates the possibility of a sonic path that could not have been anticipated in advance.

Symbiosis of Sound: Creating Through Difference

Continuing the curatorial vision of Lin’s Culture Focus, Symbiosis of Sound does not seek to impose boundaries on music or arrive at a single, predetermined outcome. Instead, it creates an open space in which artists from different cultural backgrounds, performance traditions, and creative practices can meet.

Moving between traditional instruments, voice, and electronics, and between individual sonic explorations and collective improvisation, this performance is more than a meeting of five artists. It is an opportunity for relationships built through ongoing exchange to evolve into new forms of musical discovery.

When difference becomes a source of inspiration rather than division, sound can move beyond familiar frameworks and take shape in ways that cannot be fully imagined beforehand.

October 23 — Enter Symbiosis of Sound and experience how differences coexist, interact, and give rise to new sonic possibilities.

Lin's Culture Focus

Symbiosis of Sound

Event Information

📅 Date: Friday, October 23, 2026
⏰ Time: 20:00–21:30
📍 Venue: Lin’s Culture
🏠 Address: 1F, No. 138-1, Section 1, Xinsheng South Road, Taipei City, Taiwan
📞 Registration: +886-2-2341-8000
🎟️ Admission & Registration: Official LINE: @linsculture

About Lin’s Culture Sound Focus

Lin’s Culture Sound Focus is a sound art and improvisational music series curated by Lin’s Culture. The series focuses on free improvisation, experimental sound, cross-cultural collaboration, and contemporary artistic practices.

By inviting musicians, sound artists, and interdisciplinary creators from Taiwan and around the world, the series explores the boundaries of sound and the possibilities of real-time creation. Through diverse and open-ended artistic practices, Lin’s Culture Sound Focus is committed to establishing a distinctive international platform for sonic exchange in Taiwan.

About Lin’s Culture Performance Space

Lin’s Culture Performance Space connects musical and artistic performers from around the world with audiences, fostering a cultural platform built on exchange and collaboration.

Through performances, workshops, lectures, and interdisciplinary projects, the space cultivates an accessible and open environment for artistic creation. Emphasizing the immediacy, spontaneity, and emotional resonance of live performance, Lin’s Culture has gradually become an important destination for international musicians visiting Taipei.

Featured Artists

Ken Ueno｜Voice · Sound Art

Ken Ueno is a composer, vocalist, improviser, and sound artist whose artistic practice seeks to expand the boundaries of perception and challenge conventional notions of musical beauty.

His compositions have been performed by major ensembles around the world. Alongside his compositional work, Ueno creates installation-based works incorporating live performance and collaborates with visual artists, architects, and video artists to develop distinctive interdisciplinary projects. These works are often presented in unconventional musical and artistic settings.

His performances and works have been presented at renowned venues and festivals internationally, including Lincoln Center, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cologne Music Festival, the Austria Festival, Warsaw Autumn, the Gaudeamus Festival, the Darmstadt Summer Courses, and the Spoleto Festival USA, among others.

Rex Chen (誠意重)｜Electronics

Chen Yi-Chung (陳奕仲), known as Rex Chen, is a Taiwanese DJ, turntablist, and interdisciplinary music practitioner based primarily in Taichung. He is an active participant in Taiwan’s underground experimental music and noise scenes.

His practice explores the possibilities of DJ culture and turntablism, encompassing experimental music composition, live performance, and free improvisation. Through the manipulation of sonic textures, the reconfiguration of sound materials, and real-time interaction between performers, he develops a distinctive approach to sound.

His work spans improvisational music, experimental art, and sound art. He has participated in artistic and musical projects including Pre-DJ at the Taipei Biennial. He is also a member of the free-improvisation trio Shen Xian Lao Hu Gou (神仙老虎狗), formed with artist Miao Gong Jun Yang (妙工俊陽) and saxophonist Xiao Liu. The trio has released the experimental improvisational electronic album Shu Sù (《樹 Sù》), continuing to explore the open-ended relationships between sound, rhythm, and improvisation.

Xiao Liu (劉銘訓)｜Alto Saxophone

Xiao Liu, whose full name is Liu Ming-Xun (劉銘訓), is a Taiwanese alto saxophonist active in experimental rock, avant-garde jazz, free improvisation, and noise music.

Since beginning his self-directed exploration of the saxophone, he has continually pushed the expressive boundaries of the instrument. His playing is wild, incisive, and instinctive, combining the energy of free improvisation with experimental sonic vocabularies to create performances of intensity and vitality.

In recent years, Xiao Liu has collaborated with musicians and interdisciplinary artists from Taiwan and abroad, participating in free improvisation, experimental music, and sound art performances. Through encounters between contrasting sonic forms, he continues to develop diverse musical dialogues.

In 2019, he co-founded the free-improvisation trio Shen Xian Lao Hu Gou with DJ Rex Chen and artist Miao Gong Jun Yang. The trio continues to explore the possibilities of improvisation, noise, and sonic experimentation.

Yen-Hsuan Wu (吳妍萱)｜Guzheng

“A resolute spirit, refined and tempered, flows from her fingertips.” — Central News Agency, Beijing

Yen-Hsuan Wu is a Taiwanese contemporary guzheng performer. She holds a Master of Arts and a Bachelor’s degree from the Department of Chinese Traditional Music at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

Active across a wide range of interdisciplinary stages, Wu is known for a performance style that is innovative yet assured, delicate yet sincere, and rich in dramatic tension and imagery. While preserving the traditional resonance of guzheng music, she introduces new musical contexts and interpretive approaches. Her distinctive artistry has made her a sought-after collaborator among composers and interdisciplinary artists.

Wu studied under Professor Zhou Wang, a renowned guzheng performer and educator and doctoral supervisor at the Central Conservatory of Music. She is the first Taiwanese student to have studied directly under Professor Zhou Wang.

Between 2003 and 2005, Wu won first-place gold awards in several national competitions. From 2014 to 2016, she was invited to perform for ambassadors from 13 Eastern European countries and at the Japanese Embassy. She was also selected for Beijing’s New Generation Artists series.

Her performances have appeared at numerous festivals in Taiwan and internationally, including the Taiwan World Music Festival (TWMF) and the Sori International Music and Art Festival in Jeonju, South Korea.

Hsiao-Feng Lin (林小楓)｜Bamboo Flute

Hsiao-Feng Lin is an improvisational bamboo flute performer and music curator at Lin’s Culture.

Specializing in innovative interpretations of flutes from diverse musical traditions, Lin has developed a distinctive personal musical language. Over the years, he has worked with artists, festivals, and museums in Taiwan and internationally, curating and creating a series of performance projects that continually expand the expressive possibilities of flute performance.

Since 2011, Lin has organized intimate improvisational and interdisciplinary concerts, inviting performing artists from Taiwan and abroad to participate. Through the concept of “composition in the moment,” he has explored contemporary improvisation and the redefinition of traditional instruments within new musical contexts.

In 2025, Lin was invited to present a solo performance at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.

In 2024, his album Cadenza 21 (《即興貳拾壹 Cadenza21》) received the World Flute Society’s World Flutist of the Year Award and Best Asian Recording Award. The album was also nominated for Best Crossover Music Album and Best Arrangement at the 35th Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music.

In the same year, Lin was invited to participate in the Cultural Olympiad in Paris. In 2023, he appeared on the Hunan TV music variety program Sisters Who Make Waves. In 2022, he launched the Flute Frontiers project and was invited by BAU Conservatory of Music in Istanbul to give a lecture and presentation.

Contact Us

For information about special offers, cultural events, new musical instruments, or music courses, please contact Lin's Culture.

Telephone: +886-2-2341-8000 / +886-2-2391-8000

Official LINE ID: @linsculture