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New museum strikes right note
SAX MANIAC:The Chang Lien-cheng Saxophone Museum is named
after the man who made the first saxophone in Taiwan, losing the sight in one of
his eyes in the process
Staff writer, with CNA
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The daughters of Chang Tsung-yao perform at
the opening of the Chang Lien-cheng Saxophone Museum in Houli District, Greater
Taichung, yesterday. Chang Tsung-yao is the grandson of Chang Lien-cheng, the
man who started the saxophone industry in central Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
A saxophone museum documenting the life of Taiwan¡¦s first saxophone maker and
the development of saxophone making in Houli District (¦Z¨½), Greater Taichung,
opened to the public yesterday.
The Chang Lien-cheng (±i³s©÷) Saxophone Museum is named after a local resident who
made the first saxophone in Taiwan on his own, sparking the development of the
saxophone production industry in Houli, which is now one of the largest centers
of saxophone production in the world.
TOURIST-FRIENDLY
Located in a town nicknamed ¡§Musical Instrument Town,¡¨ the museum will display a
collection of saxophones. Previously a memorial hall dedicated to Chang, the
museum site now has a new two-story building, a concert hall and a
tourist-friendly factory that allows visitors to see how the instrument is made.
¡§The museum is certainly not the only saxophone museum in Taiwan, but it is
definitely the only one with a lot of stories to be shared,¡¨ Wang Tsai-jui
(¤ý±m¿¶), Chang¡¦s granddaughter-in-law, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
Chang, born in 1912, was a farmer¡¦s son who abandoned the family¡¦s farm to
become a painter. He later joined a band when he was in his 20s.
¡§No one during the 1930s was actually playing any kind of Western instruments,
but Chang was fascinated by the saxophone,¡¨ Wang said.
DETERMINED
When Chang¡¦s saxophone was damaged in a fire, he was determined to build the
brass tube by himself. He started from observing the shape of the instrument on
canvas.
Three years into the making of the saxophone in 1948, he lost the sight in his
right eye when a piece of copper flashed into his eyeball. However, the incident
did not stop Chang from continuing his pursuit and the first locally made
saxophone was finished shortly after the accident.
¡§The museum is really about showing the personality and perseverance of a person
who loved music so much,¡¨ Wang said.
Chang trained a number of apprentices, helping saxophone making become a
lucrative export industry for Taiwan from the 1950s to the 1990s. It¡¦s no longer
as profitable as it once was because of competition from China.
Two of the must-see saxophones in the museum are an intricately made instrument
with a dragon decoration on the tube, specially made by Chang, and a
160-year-old saxophone produced by saxophone inventor Adolphe Sax, which was
found and bought by Wang¡¦s family through laborious trips to Belgium, Wang said.
FASCINATING
¡§We knew from the start that the museum is about more than showcasing the
locally made instruments; we want to tell the very first story of this
fascinating instrument,¡¨ Wang said.
Wang¡¦s four daughters are all saxophone players.
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