The Philadelphia Orchestra to visit China

The earliest US "cultural envoy" to China, in 1973 The Philadelphia Orchestra became the first American orchestra to visit China. More than four decades later, the orchestra is preparing to launch another music tour that will take it to Beijing, Shanghai, Changsha, Shenzhen, Macao and Taiwan.

Starting Thursday in Beijing's National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), the two-week tour will be led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, French-Canadian conductor and music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra. His first time to China, he will perform Chinese composer Tan Dun's multi-media orchestral work Nu Shu: The Secret Songs of Women, together with classic pieces from Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Mahler.

According to Allison Vulgamore, president and chief executive officer of The Philadelphia Orchestra, the orchestra isn't coming just to play concerts but will also engage in other activities like hospital and school visits, ensemble performances at local cultural sites and giving classes.

Believing music is a common language that is "shared person to person, and country to country," Vulgamore regards the orchestra as "symbolic of the friendships that have been built and endured over more than four decades, of the connection between our countries and the individuals who have performed together and shared their art and their talents." In the near future, the orchestra also intends to work with the NCPA to bring Chinese musicians and orchestras over to the US.

Since taking over the orchestra in 2010, Vulgamore has brought innovative ideas to performances - multimedia, lighting effects and dramatic elements have been integrated with traditional performances. "We believe that there are many different ways that people can listen to and experience music. Live concert performances are powerful, shared experiences that can transform people's lives - we want to meet our audience members at their own level of interest in the music," she said.