How Philly鈥檚 orchestra became a rare link between China and the US
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Ann Scott Tyson Staff writer
| Beijing
A big red drum booms, and then a lilting jinghu 鈥� a Chinese bowed string instrument 鈥� draws the audience of more than 2,000 people into the ancient Peking opera tune 鈥淒eep Night鈥� conducted by Long Yu, chief conductor of the China Philharmonic.聽
The concert to usher in the Lunar New Year is happening not in Beijing, but in the City of Brotherly Love, performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra and guest soloists.聽
The orchestra鈥檚 unique role in bringing together American and Chinese musicians extends far beyond celebrating the Year of the Dragon, which begins Feb. 10. It鈥檚 a powerful form of diplomacy 鈥� especially amid high U.S.-China tensions, says Mat铆as聽Tarnopolsky, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Orchestra.聽
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onWhen formal diplomatic channels grow cold, countries must rely on softer forms of statecraft. For 50 years, the Philadelphia Orchestra has played a singular role in connecting America and China through the universal love of music.
As relations between Beijing and Washington sank into a deep freeze during the pandemic, the orchestra was one of the few points of warm connection, he says, recalling a meeting he had with a senior Chinese diplomat.
鈥淭he [diplomat] said to me, 鈥楶lease keep doing what you鈥檙e doing 鈥� sometimes it鈥檚 the only thing that鈥檚 working between our nations,鈥欌�� says Mr. Tarnopolsky.
鈥淚t reminds us that a great orchestra like Philadelphia鈥檚 touches hearts in the moment of performance and far, far beyond,鈥� he says, calling the orchestra鈥檚 work in China 鈥渁 multigenerational project.鈥�
Indeed, the orchestra鈥檚 long-standing ties with China 鈥� it recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of its pathbreaking 1973 China tour 鈥� give it an outsize role in today鈥檚 broader push by Beijing and Washington to stabilize relations by strengthening people-to-people connections.
鈥淭o ensure the two major countries can get along, a right perception of each other is more important than anything else,鈥� said Huang Ping, consul general of China鈥檚 New York Consulate, at a Jan. 16 event highlighting upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations such as concerts, art exhibits, and culinary festivals in the eastern United States. 鈥淲e need to enhance people-to-people exchanges to deepen our mutual understanding.鈥�
The U.S. and China are also working to boost direct flights and cultural, sports, and student exchanges 鈥� an outcome of the meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in San Francisco last year. Mr. Xi said China is ready to welcome 50,000 U.S. students on exchange and study programs over the next five years. In China, the U.S. students 鈥渨ill be greeted with warmth and affection,鈥� Mr. Huang wrote to the Monitor. 鈥淧lease visit.鈥澛�
Symbol of American goodwill
When violinist Davyd Booth first came to China with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1973, during Mao Zedong鈥檚 radical Cultural Revolution, the U.S. and China were seeking to rebuild ties after a quarter century of hostility and estrangement.
Following his historic 1972 China trip, President Richard Nixon had decided to send his favorite orchestra, then conducted by Eugene Ormandy, as cultural emissaries.
The trip was sensitive. Much art and music was banned by the Communist regime as bourgeois. Word came that Mr. Mao鈥檚 wife, Jiang Qing, insisted at the last minute that Mr. Ormandy change the program and conduct Beethoven鈥檚 Sixth Symphony, about rural life, rather than the Fifth, about fate. Mr. Ormandy, who disliked the Sixth, was outraged. 鈥淎ll of a sudden I heard [Mr. Ormandy] scream, 鈥業 will not conduct that symphony!鈥欌�� Mr. Booth, who was in a nearby dressing room, recalls.
Ultimately, American diplomat Nicholas Platt persuaded Mr. Ormandy to conduct the Sixth 鈥� before a pleased Madame Mao in the front row. The trip was a success. Surprisingly, the concerts were broadcast nationwide, giving hundreds of millions of Chinese their first taste of Western music in years.
Jennifer Lin, director of 鈥淏eethoven in Beijing,鈥� a documentary about the Philadelphia Orchestra鈥檚 legacy in China, compares the phenomenon to the famous exchange of Chinese and American table tennis players in the early 1970s.
鈥淓veryone knows about pingpong diplomacy,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut music diplomacy had an equal impact on the relationship.鈥�
For Chinese people, hearing the orchestra鈥檚 Western repertoire in 1973 鈥渨as like being in the desert and getting a long drink of water 鈥� everyone was craving the music but they couldn鈥檛 perform it,鈥� she says.
Quenching that thirst, if only briefly, the Philadelphia Orchestra won a unique reputation in China 鈥� not only for exposing people to outside music but also for being a symbol of American goodwill.
Tan Dun, then a middle school student from Hunan province laboring on a communal farm, heard the bold notes of the Beethoven symphony from a village loudspeaker in 1973 and was captivated. After the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976 ushered in a musical revival in China, Mr. Tan joined a conservatory, studied in New York, and became a world-renowned Chinese American composer and conductor. He has earned a Grammy Award, Academy Award, and many others, and is dean of the Bard Conservatory of Music in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.
鈥淲e have played a lot of his music and he鈥檚 conducted some,鈥� says Mr. Booth of Mr. Tan鈥檚 ongoing ties with the Philadelphia Orchestra.聽
The power to humanize
Last November, Tristan Rais-Sherman, assistant conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, got his first experience directing Chinese music at the 50th-anniversary joint performance with the China National Symphony Orchestra in Beijing.
Leading musicians through the soft tones of 鈥淭he Moon Reflecting on Er-Quan Spring鈥� was 鈥渙ne of the most challenging things on the program,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a long piece with all these little phrases that need precise care, like a little jewel.鈥�
On his first trip to China, he also discovered how similar Chinese and American musicians are. 鈥淚t was comforting in a way,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey have the same struggles, the same issues, and they require the same help.鈥�
The concert, which received congratulatory messages from Mr. Xi and Mr. Biden, concluded with a powerful rendition of Beethoven鈥檚 Fifth Symphony and multiple encores.聽
The deep collaboration between the musicians, and the shared experience of the audience, are ways that music brings people together, says Mr. Tarnopolsky after the concert.
Music helps to 鈥渉umanize Americans to Chinese people, and Chinese people to Americans,鈥� he says. 鈥淒espite all the ups and downs, the Philadelphia Orchestra continues to come to China. ... When things are tough, it鈥檚 even more important.鈥�
