In Friday’s (1/31) Wall Street Journal, Corinne Ramey writes, “To celebrate the Chinese New Year, the New York Philharmonic on Saturday brings Chinese dancers to Lincoln Center’s plaza and performs a concert of traditional Chinese and Western classical music with prominent Chinese and Chinese-American soloists … The now-annual concert and corresponding gala—where dress is ‘traditional Chinese attire or black tie,’ according to the orchestra’s website—is perhaps the most visible evidence of the Philharmonic’s growing Chinese connections. In the past few years, the Philharmonic, like other arts organizations in New York, has increased its ties to China, a country viewed as a hot market for classical music. … While it has had other international relationships, this one is the most multifaceted, said the Philharmonic’s executive director, Matthew VanBesien. … Other orchestras are increasingly making trips to China and holding Chinese New Year concerts, said Jesse Rosen, president and chief executive of the League of American Orchestras. Within the past two years, the orchestras of Chicago, San Diego, Philadelphia and San Francisco performed in China; the Boston Symphony will tour this May. ‘China has such an appetite now for classical music, and U.S. orchestras are regarded as highly developed and evolved,’ said Mr. Rosen.”
Posted February 3, 2014
