Musicians from the Philadelphia Orchestra visited China in November 2023. In photo: Philadelphia Orchestra cellist John Koen with his counterpart in the China National Symphony Orchestra in rehearsal for a side-by-side concert by both orchestras in Beijing. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.
In Wednesday’s (10/9) Philadelphia Inquirer, Peter Dobrin writes, “After scrapping its 50th anniversary tour of China in 2023, the Philadelphia Orchestra is picking up where it left off. The full ensemble will travel to China later this month—its 13th visit, the most of any American orchestra. The orchestra’s 1973 Nixon-era visit helped to open China to the West and became a symbol for the power of cultural diplomacy, a dynamic that continues today. ‘Since we were last in China as a full orchestra in 2019, we’ve received letters from President Xi Jinping, President Biden, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, encouraging the Philadelphia Orchestra’s activities in cultural diplomacy, in investing in the power of music to bring people together,’ said Matías Tarnopolsky, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center, Inc. ‘So in that regard, there’s a diplomatic objective.’… The orchestra’s eight concerts in China begin Oct. 31 in Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts and continue with more Beijing concerts and performances in Tianjin and, for the first time, Chengdu and Haikou…. This fall’s concerts will be conducted by principal guest conductor Marin Alsop and feature pipa player Wu Man and pianist Haochen Zhang.”
