Philly to China, sans Yannick
OrchestrasThe full Philadelphia Orchestra will tour China from the end of this month until mid-November. Principal Guest Marin Alsop will conduct.
They will give concerts in Beijing, Tianjin, Chengdu, and Haikou. Pipa player Wu Man and pianist Haochen Zhang will join as soloists. The November 2 concert in Beijing will feature the world premiere of Mason Bates’s setting of a Tang poem “Spring River Flowers by Moonlight”.
The orchestra will travel on a Hainan Airlines charter flight. The lead sponsor is Bank of China.
Beijing, it seems, has called all the shots.
Cool to be part of this tour. The poem “Spring River Flowers by Moonlight” was a really inspiring suggestion. I’ve had an amazing time working with several native Chinese speakers on the best ways to set the poem.
Good luck, Mason!
“Spring River Flowers by Moonlight”. Reads like: Joni Mitchell meets Yo-Yo Ma somewhere along the Silk Road. lol
Is there anything that screams more loudly “uninvolved Music Director” than a major international tour withOUT the MD?