The Nika Taiko Japanese Drumming Ensemble's vivid performance
Captivating percussionist demeanor, radiating powerful visual and auditory force
Listening attentively to the performance of a renowned Mediterranean polyphonic vocal ensemble
Directed by Lisa Burg, the Mediterranean polyphonic vocal ensemble enchants with its bewitching voices and gentle tones, deeply moving
The Horizon Choir of Medieval Renaissance conducted by Beatrice Boivieux

Text and photos by Chen Chi-Hsiang. Music completes life; come, listen to music with me! Yesterday (June 21) was the annual Festival, where concerts filled Paris’s streets, squares, concert halls, and churches. A wide variety of music was available, allowing you to choose according to personal taste and preference. In fact, music is an indispensable spiritual sustenance in people’s lives, my daily vitamin, and art has completed my life.

Taking advantage of this beautiful festival time, I went to enjoy music rarely heard on ordinary days. Last night, I specially selected two performances near my home: first, at the Seine riverside under the Simone de Beauvoir Bridge at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the morning show featured Nika Taiko, a Japanese drumming troupe. Their captivating percussion style exuded powerful visual and auditory force, and their vivid performance of works blending tradition with contemporary originality moved the audience’s hearts.

Afterward, I walked to the Saint-Louis Cathedral in the Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris’s largest and oldest hospital, to listen attentively to a famous polyphonic vocal ensemble from the Mediterranean. They sang Italian, French Corsican, and Georgian songs. Directed by Lisa Burg, the Mediterranean polyphonic ensemble bewitched with its enchanting voices and gentle tones, which were quite touching. Then, under the baton of Beatrice Boivieux, I listened to the Horizon Choir of Medieval Renaissance, experiencing the humanistic atmosphere of the Middle Ages. Listening to the heavenly sounds from the human heart, transcending time and space, allowed me to spend a wonderful night, entering early summer dreams with a satisfied heart full of life’s beauty.