Philadelphia ensemble returns to China for 50th-anniversary tour to mark key role in Sino-US ties
Musicians acknowledge the audience after a special concert to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Philadelphia Orchestra's visit to China at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing on Nov 10, 2023. (JIANG DONG / CHINA DAILY)
Editor’s note: As the Philadelphia Orchestra is visiting China to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its first tour of the country, China Daily reviews the musical journey that celebrates the enduring friendship between China and the United States. This is not just a story about music, it is a testament to the power of rhythm and melody in transcending geographical borders and language barriers, and shaping future symphonies of friendship.
As vast fields surrounding Beijing and Shanghai transformed into sprawling, towering skyscrapers, and vintage bicycles, waiting in line at traffic signals, gave way to motor vehicles, the essence of music communication remained unchanged amid these shifts.
“I’ll never forget that I’ve never seen so many bicycles in my life,” said Philadelphia Orchestra violinist Davyd Booth, recalling his first tour in China 50 years ago. “Everyone rode a bicycle. There were literally hundreds, thousands.
“When we went into Beijing, there were still a lot of fields around. We saw farmers on these wooden carts with wooden wheels. These carts were being pulled by, I think probably, water buffalo. It was amazing! It’s really stepping back in my mind, the real history.”
This month, 14 musicians from the Philadelphia Orchestra, including Booth, have returned to China, for performances in Beijing, Tianjin, Suzhou and Shanghai from Nov 9 to 18.
The tour marks the 50th anniversary of their first visit in the 1970s, celebrating the unique friendship between China and the United States.'
Musicians from the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra perform during a joint concert celebrating the Chinese New Year at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia on Jan 29, 2019. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
Over the years, the orchestra has forged connections across China, with concerts and residencies that facilitate meaningful people-to-people interactions.
Booth said the 1973 tour was his first international trip with the orchestra, led by conductor Eugene Ormandy, who was a close friend of then-US president Richard Nixon.
“President Nixon had been to China the year before, so that was the beginning of our relationship with China. They wanted not only a musical bridge but also a cultural exchange. Nixon wanted to bring the Philadelphia Orchestra,” he said.
Booth considered himself lucky to have been part of the tour. He had just auditioned and got accepted into the orchestra that year. His official start date was scheduled after the orchestra’s return from China, but Booth received a call from the personnel manager informing him that someone had fallen ill. He then took the place and went to China.
“I was incredibly thrilled! Then, after I hung up, I realized I didn’t even have a passport,” Booth said. However, Booth recounted he got his passport and visa in just three days, thanks to the strong support from both countries. With his violin in tow, Booth joined the team on the 15-hour flight to China.
In addition to some regular compositions, the Philadelphia Orchestra also played the Yellow River Concerto, one of the most popular piano concertos in China even today, written by Chinese composers Yin Chengzong, Chu Wanghua, Sheng Lihong and Liu Zhuang. The Philadelphia Orchestra collaborated on this ensemble with a Chinese pianist, marking the earliest musical ties between the US and China.
Musicians from the Philadelphia Orchestra perform at the Temple of Heaven on May 30, 2012, as part of a music week organized by China's National Centre for the Performing Arts. (JIANG DONG / CHINA DAILY)
After the concert, the team was hanging around on the streets, Booth said. It was a fun experience even though people did not know how to talk to locals because of language differences, he said, adding they were trying to interact with each other.
“You can communicate a lot by smiling, and it worked out very, very well,” he added.
“People were very enthusiastic. They craned their necks to greet us, and we reciprocated. In our orchestra, there were two ladies with blonde hair, and some Chinese girls wanted to gently touch their hair. They (blonde ladies) were more than willing, almost like being ‘fashion icons’.”
People were trying to greet them in English, Booth said, and the orchestra members tried to greet them back in Chinese. All these experiences were beyond just music, he said.
Since 1973, the orchestra has traveled to China 11 times. Frequency and connection were far closer than expected at the beginning.
The last trip was in 2019 and it was then interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Both the orchestra and the Chinese audience are excited that the tour is resuming.
“I can say that it’s historical,” Booth said.
“The relationship between the United States and China will get better, and I’d like to think that a lot of it would have to do with bringing music, and it works both ways. We’ve had many, many events where we get together, play, and work together, both Chinese and American musicians.
“Every time we come, it’s different. And I get to see different things, and I get to eat different foods and all sorts of wonderful things,” Booth said.
“We have quite a few Chinese players in the Philadelphia Orchestra. Of course, they are family to us, which makes China family to us.”
A boy meets a musician at Tianjin Children's Hospital on June 5, 2013. The Philadelphia Orchestra visited Tianjin, a sister city of Philadelphia, to help spread the power of music. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
Matias Tarnopolsky, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center, said the orchestra is “deeply committed to the visit on this 50-year anniversary”.
“The objectives remain the same today as they did in 1973: To share the transformative power of music with our audiences in China. That was true in 1973, and it’s true today,” he said.
“The relationship between the Philadelphia Orchestra and China is special,” he said. “It’s emblematic of the power of music to create connections, bonds, and understanding between people.”
The 1973 visit came six years before China and the US established formal diplomatic relations. “We created bonds in 1973 with China, with audiences, fellow musicians, and music students that persist to this day and have been passed down through the generations,” Tarnopolsky said.
The Philadelphia Orchestra’s tour has not only been a significant milestone in bilateral diplomatic ties but has also marked a deeper cultural interaction, particularly in music and among musicians.
In China and the US, those musical ties have become stronger through performances following the Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as collaborations involving Chinese and US musicians, composers, conductors, educators, and scholars. They are searching for connections, building connections, and strengthening connections to empower music cultures from both countries.
A children's choir performs the Chinese folk song Jasmine Flower with the Philadelphia Orchestra on Nov 9, 2023 in Beijing. (JIANG DONG / CHINA DAILY)
As such, the Central Conservatory of Music, or CCOM, one of the top music institutes in China, has established exchange programs with the US higher education institutions in music.
“The exchanges are (indeed) frequent and important,” Yu Hongmei, professor and director of the Chinese Music Department at CCOM, said during the US-China Music Forum, a panel discussion, as part of the China Now Music Festival held in New York last month. The festival was organized by the US-China Music Institute, which also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s first tour of China.
The CCOM has signed cooperation agreements and established exchange programs with the Columbia University School of the Arts, Eastman School of Music, Yale School of Music, and the Manhattan School of Music. It has also founded the Chinese Music Composition Center, Performing Arts Center, and Artistic Research Center overseas.
“Civilization is more colorful through communication, and culture is enriched through mutual learning. Looking toward the future, the educational and cultural exchanges between China and the US will continue to develop,” Yu said.
“These agreements allow us to carry out multilevel academic exchanges, such as faculty visits and student exchange programs, promoting the music development between China and the US.”
Cai Jingdong, director of the US-China Music Institute, said, “Music bridges cultures.
“Fifty years ago, the Philadelphia Orchestra laid the foundation for China-US musical and cultural exchange. In this environment, many musicians like me have been permeated and influenced by the exchange of US-China musical culture. The connection between Chinese and American musicians has also become tighter. We have the essence of Chinese music and an international perspective and innovation from American music culture.”
Davyd Booth, violinist with the orchestra, hugs Zhu Xinren, former first violinist with the Central Philharmonic Society, as they are reunited after 50 years. (JIANG DONG / CHINA DAILY)
Cai has helped connect New York’s Bard College Conservatory of Music and the CCOM. He built the Bard East/West Ensemble, which features a Western string quintet and seven traditional Chinese musical instruments: the pipa, erhu, guzheng, dizi, sheng, ruan, and suona, as well as Western and Chinese percussion instruments.
“China has become a significant hub for the dissemination of Western classical music, with many professional students studying it, and we have seen a large influx of Chinese students coming to the US to study music,” Cai said.
“However, in recent years, things have been changing. I hope to bring Chinese music and traditional instruments to the US. Therefore, in our music institute, we have introduced a ‘degree program’ for Chinese traditional instruments. It is through cultural exchange that we can mutually develop and grow.
“Music is a reflection of society. We want our own stories and music to be heard. We want our own culture and history to be shared with the rest of the world through music.
“I hope that this ensemble can continue to develop and have the opportunity to perform throughout the United States, spreading Chinese music and also showcasing American music.”
The Philadelphia Orchestra symbolized a foundational cultural exchange during past “icebreaking” moments, Cai said. Even though China and the US are experiencing political and economic tensions, he hopes music can still serve as a breakthrough.
The orchestra hosted a 50th-anniversary side-by-side concert with the China National Symphony Orchestra, at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, on Nov 10.
Before the concert, Zhu Xinren, 90, and Booth met for the first time since the original tour 50 years ago. Zhu was the first violinist for the China National Symphony Orchestra, formerly known as the Central Philharmonic Society, in 1973.
The pair shared memories of the rehearsals they had together in Beijing and agreed that those rehearsals seemed “just like yesterday”.
Booth said: “It (the meeting with Zhu) gave me goosebumps. This is the greatest thing. We have built relationships, we have built friendships with people for such a long time. This is definitely a highlight of my trip to China.”
Members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, led by conductor Eugene Ormandy (center), tour the Great Wall on Sept 18, 1973. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
The original trip was about more than music. One photograph of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s visit to China in 1973 captures its musicians showing crowds in the capital how to play Frisbee.
“The orchestra’s visit made headlines. It was not only a musical exchange, but also communication between the American musicians and the Chinese people,” Zhu said.
Looking back over the years, Booth said: “We realized just how many people were deeply touched by our first concerts in 1973. That tour was a pivotal moment in our lives, and remains so to this day.”
Tarnopolsky agreed: “The 1973 tour is remembered to this day by many in China as a symbol of deep musical friendship, and we hope that our music-making will continue to build bridges between our people and cultures.”
On this anniversary tour, the visiting orchestra did not just perform in major concert halls but collaborated with Chinese ensembles, taught masterclasses at universities and high schools, maintained partnerships with leading arts organizations, and performed with a children’s choir.
Tarnopolsky said: “It’s exciting to see musicians from the two countries playing side by side. We are unified, and music is truly a universal language.”
“Music stands very closely with the values of collaboration and cooperation, hearing and listening, and of free expression. All these things that music represents in the world … are only good things,” Tarnopolsky said.
“You know wherever we perform, wherever the Philadelphia Orchestra performs, music has some intrinsic and unifying qualities that are very important to help make the world a better place.”
He said both the Chinese and US governments have been very supportive of this trip.
“Music is a very unifying and democratizing force. Music is deeply valued in China and the US at the highest levels of our government. We go as an independent organization, but we deeply appreciate the support we receive both from the US government and the Chinese government.”
“We’re very excited to be … back (in) China. It’s been four years since 2019. We usually go every two years. It’s thrilling to be reconnecting (with) China in person,” he said. “When other forms of communication aren’t working, music does work.”
With additional reporting by Chen Nan.
