After four days in Taipei, I fell in love with the sights and sounds of this uniquely beautiful city. Located in a basin and surrounded by mountains that shape both its climate and population density, Taipei often feels like a city that never sleeps. With a population of nearly 2.5 million people, it seamlessly blends tradition, history, pop culture, and everyday practicality with vibrance and grace.
J-pop, K-pop, and Mandopop influences intersect with Taoist temples, while elements of Japanese culture and architecture sit alongside Chinese heritage and traditions. While its people can trace their ancestry to many places across East and Southeast Asia, Taiwan is distinctly its own. It holds many influences, yet maintains a clear and evolving identity… and nowhere is that more evident than in its capital city, Taipei.
PRACTICAL CLASSROOM APPLICATION:
Experiencing Taipei reminded me that the music of a culture cannot be separated from the people, places, histories, and everyday experiences that give it meaning. When introducing music from world cultures, I want to use technology and readily available resources to help students immerse themselves in the communities from which that music originates. They need to explore language, geography, history, contemporary life, recordings, and the voices of the people who call those places home. By looking beyond the notes on the page, students can make more genuine and culturally informed artistic decisions, approach the music with greater respect and understanding, and build meaningful connections with people and cultures that may exist on the other side of the world.
