Embracing Community

Since 2013, NTU Alumni Chamber Ensemble (NTUACE) started to play in the Sunday Worship at the Tustin Taiwan Presbyterian Church, in various community events and in family music parties. We want to get more intimate connections with the community for promoting Classical Chamber Music, and exploring Music Therapy.

I am excited to find an article “Embracing Community: Prometheus Chamber Orchestra” in Violinist.com recently. Prometheus Chamber Orchestra (PCO) was founded in 2013 and has 18 musicians. Here is their artistic statement:

Prometheus Chamber Orchestra is a self-conducted and self-managed orchestra in residence at the historic Church of the Advocate in North Philadelphia. Comprised of 18 musicians, Prometheus seeks to use the self-conducted orchestra to change the way audiences experience orchestra concerts, the relationship of the orchestra to the community, and the way musicians perceive concert programming and artistic responsibility.

In it, I found an echo of our mission statement (“Our Intentions”). The close relationship between PCO and Church of  the Advocate is a model that our Ensemble can follow. In addition to Sunday Worship Music, we can work with Tustin Taiwanese Presbyterian Church to arrange concerts and invite the listeners to enjoy the chamber music.

Several of our members are music teachers in the community. Their efforts in introducing music to the young students brought good results, just as Ms. Johnson said (in the same article):

“Music has such an impact on the students that we’re teaching, and their parents – it changes families.”

Our Ensemble is also self-conducted and self-managed. We get together every week for chamber music practice and planning for future performances and concerts.  The “open rehearsal” of PCO (see photo below) is a good practice that we can follow.

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We take every opportunity seriously, including invitations from community organizations for joint concerts, from Hospitals to perform music for therapy, from Churches for Gospel out-reach activities, etc.


We reach out to the community, get to know their needs and try our best to accommodate. In such way, we fulfill our music and social missions.

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