Biden, Xi praise the Philadelphia Orchestra as musicians visit China
“Music has the power to transcend borders,” Xi Jinping wrote to the Orchestra president. “And culture can build bridges between hearts.”
In the current political climate, the U.S. and China might have their troubles communicating, but the two leaders of the countries are talking — about the Philadelphia Orchestra.
With a dozen orchestra musicians currently on tour in China, President Joe Biden wrote a letter to the Philadelphians applauding their half-century as cultural ambassadors to China. Music has the ability to transcend barriers of geography and language, and the musicians’ performances in China “will help forge even closer cultural ties,” Biden wrote in an Oct. 20 letter.
Xi Jinping, president of the People’s Republic of China, volleyed with an expression of warmth of his own.
“Half a century ago, the orchestra’s historic China tour marked a thaw in China-U.S. cultural exchange, which was a very important part in the normalization of the two countries’ diplomatic relations,” Xi wrote to Matías Tarnopolsky, Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center Inc. president and CEO, on Nov. 5.
Since their first visit in 1973, the orchestra has visited China a dozen times, the Chinese president noted, as an “active cultural envoy, playing an instrumental role in strengthening China-U.S. ties.”
The letters came as both leaders were preparing to meet Wednesday in California during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and the timing of the visit by Philadelphia Orchestra members was not coincidental, said an orchestra spokesperson. Nicholas Burns, the U.S. Ambassador to China, and high-level Chinese delegations were in attendance at musical events before departing for APEC.
“At all the events in Beijing, the reception to the Philadelphia Orchestra musicians and their music-making was incredibly warm and very moving,” said Tarnopolsky. “I feel that music creates opportunities for connection and dialogue that wouldn’t otherwise exist, and in that regard I do believe this visit was helpful to relations between the two countries.”
The tour of musicians from the Philadelphia Orchestra to Beijing, Tianjin, Suzhou, and Shanghai was organized to mark the 50th anniversary of the orchestra’s first appearance in China in 1973 and includes master classes, chamber music concerts, and side-by-side performances with members of the Philadelphia and Chinese orchestras.
The Philadelphia Orchestra was to have traveled to China in May for a 50th anniversary tour with the full orchestra, but the group canceled the tour, citing difficulties associated with the country’s COVID protocols.
The orchestra now hopes that a tour of the full ensemble will be possible in the 2024-25 season.
In the delicate choreography of diplomacy, Xi sent positive signs for the future, hailing the power of strengthening people-to-people ties.
“Music has the power to transcend borders,” he wrote, “and culture can build bridges between hearts.