Ju Tzong-Ching Ju Tzong-Ching

Ju, Tzong-Ching, the well-known percussionist, has played a significant role in enhancing the wide interest in percussion music in Taiwan over the last two decades, and the popularity of percussion music in Taiwan owes a great deal to Ju for his pioneering efforts in music education.

Upon graduating from the National Taiwan Academy of the Arts (now known as National Taiwan University of Arts), he continued his percussion studies at Hochschule fur Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna with Walter Veigl and Richard Hochrainer, former principal percussionist of the Wiener Philharmoniker. He was the first Chinese who received the diploma of Music Performer in percussion in 1982.

Upon returning to Taiwan, he served as the principal percussionist of the Taiwan Symphony Orchestra. He founded Taiwan’s first percussion ensemble, the Ju ercussion Group (JPG), in January 1986. Three years later, the Ju Percussion Group Foundation was formed to manage JPG’s administrative affairs. In 1991, he established the Ju Percussion Music School, the first domestically developed percussion education system to promote the percussive arts in Taiwan. In 1993, he organized the Taiwan International Percussion Convention (TIPC), which held every 3 years. The successful events introduced the most avant-garde trend of percussion art in the world to Taiwan. In 1998, he launched Arts Circle, a magazine to further promote percussion music and the arts. In 1999, he founded the Taipei International Percussion Summer Camp (TIPSC). The camp is a short-term and intensive opportunity for percussion students to expand their musical visions and enrich their percussion educations.

In 2005, he received his Executive Master of Business Administration degree from the National Taiwan University. For his artistic excellence, he has received numerous honors including the Youth Medal Award, the Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award of Taiwan, the Golden Tripod Awards For Publication, the Golden Melody Awards, and the National Award for Arts of the National Culture and Arts Foundation. The Percussive Arts Society (PAS) has awarded him the Outstanding Contribution Award four times for his dedication to the percussive arts, and the Lifetime Education Achievement Award; In 2015, he received the Order of Brilliant Star with Violet Grand Cordon from the President of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou. In 2016, he has been inducted by the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) into its Hall of Fame

Ju has been served as the Director of National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, the Director and the Chairman of the Board of National Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Center R.O.C.-National Theatre and National Concert Hall (NTCH), the Professor and Chairperson of the Music Department and the Graduate Institute of Arts Administration and Management at the Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA) . In 2009, he was the General Director of the Opening /Closing Ceremony for the World Games 2009 Kaohsiung. In 2012, he has been appointed as the National Policy Advisors to the President.

At present, he is the Artistic Director of Ju Percussion Group, the Chair Professor of Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA), and the Emeritus Professor of Nation Taiwan University of Arts (NYUA).