The Philadelphia Orchestra Will Embark on Tour of China

Performances begin on October 31.

By: Stephi Wild Oct. 08, 2024

The Philadelphia Orchestra Will Embark on Tour of China Image

For the first time since 2019, the full Philadelphia Orchestra will return to China to share the joy of orchestral music through concerts and residency activities that serve as a bridge for people-to-people exchange. Newly appointed Principal Guest Conductor Marin Alsop, who has an over 30-year history with the Orchestra that includes performances in Philadelphia; Saratoga Springs, NY; Vail, CO; and at Carnegie Hall, will lead the tour, bringing the “Philadelphia Sound” to Beijing and Tianjin, as well as Chengdu and Haikou for the first time, with renowned pipa player Wu Man and acclaimed pianist Haochen Zhang as soloists. The visit—coinciding with 45 years of official U.S.-China diplomatic relations—will mark the 45th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Philadelphia and Tianjin, the first time an American orchestra has traveled to Hainan province, and the Orchestra’s 13th tour of China—the most by any American orchestra. The Orchestra will travel on a non-stop flight from Philadelphia International Airport to Beijing, thanks to a sponsorship from Hainan Airlines, which is providing a special charter flight on a Boeing 787-900 aircraft for the tour party and its cargo.

In November 2023, 14 members of the Orchestra traveled to China for residency activities that commemorated the 50th anniversary of the ensemble’s historic 1973 Tour of China, the first by an American orchestra. In a letter from President Biden, the Orchestra was celebrated for serving “as a bridge between our nations, strengthening the bonds that bring our people together.” This visit will build on the momentum of that trip, bringing opportunity for collaboration and celebration with the full Orchestra.

“The Philadelphia Orchestra’s journeys to China demonstrate a belief in the possibility of progress through dialogue; they make real the principle that music gives voice to thoughts and ideas that words alone cannot convey,” said President and CEO Matías Tarnopolsky. “Commemorating our 50-year relationship with the people of China last fall was an inspiring experience—one heralded by Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, concurrent with their summit in San Francisco. We look forward to continuing our decades-long conversation with the people of China and hope that our concerts and residency activities will continue to build positive cultural bridges between China and the United States.”

The November 2 concert in Beijing will feature the world premiere of a new work by Mason Bates, commissioned for the Orchestra, a setting of the Tang poem “Spring River Flowers by Moonlight.” The piece will be part of a special program featuring other settings of ancient Chinese lyrical texts written by composers from around the world, part of the iSing! Suzhou International Young Artists Festival’s Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems program, which was given its North American premiere with The Philadelphia Orchestra in celebration of Lunar New Year in 2023.

In addition, throughout the tour, the Orchestra will perform Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, Brahms’s Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”), Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for piano and orchestra, Rossini’s Overture to The Barber of Seville, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, and Zhao’s Pipa Concerto No. 2.

The November 4 concert in Beijing will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the China Conservatory of Music, presented in collaboration with the Global Music Education League.