“In the eyes of Li Zhixiang, delegation head of China’s National Center for the Performing Arts Orchestra (NCPAO), the Philadelphia Orchestra, one of NCPAO’s most famed strategic partners, carries special weight,” states an unsigned article in Sunday’s (11/11) China Daily. “The frequent exchanges between the two leading orchestras … have now led to a common sense of intimacy on both sides, as NCPAO artists went to local grassroots communities and streets [in Philadelphia] to play music before their grand performance last Wednesday night…. [Li said,] ‘There is a shared sense of responsibility for the NCPAO and the Philadelphia Orchestra, to boost music in our cities, to make it more accessible to the grassroots communities.’ … It is the hope of both sides to give the US citizens an access to young Chinese artists playing their music and the excellent pieces of the Western world.… Earlier in the morning, eight young [Chinese] musicians played both Chinese and Western classical music at Liberty Place, a shopping mall. Their skilled performance of Jerry Bock’s Fiddler on the Roof and Johann Strauss’ Tritsch Tratsch Polka attracted dozens of shoppers, but what awaited them was beautiful Chinese folk songs … elegant and delicate.”
Posted November 17, 2017
