I
field Story Litch
Chris Lee
f China is the next World Surecent survey states that nineteen Chinese per Power—Forbes predicts its orchestras are considered fully profeseconomy will surpass the U.S. sional, with fulltime musicians, a season, economy by 2020—it is also on a permanent venue, and a professional adthe fast track to being the world’s ministration. epicenter of Western classical This April and May, the National Cenmusic. One is hard-pressed to name a tre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, major Western symphony orchestra that which bills itself as “the supreme palace hasn’t toured there in the last two years: of performing arts in China,” presented the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symthe Fourth China Orchestra Festival, with phony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, fourteen concerts by thirteen orchestras Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, from throughout the country. Also part San Francisco Symphony, London Symof the festival was the Boston Symphony phony Orchestra, Boston Symphony OrOrchestra in its first visit to China since chestra, New York Philharmonic, Munich 1979; Charles Dutoit led the BSO’s 2014 Yan Wang performs at the New York Philharmonic—the list goes on and on. tour, which included concerts in Shanghai Philharmonic’s 2013 concert celebrating Russia’s Mariinsky Orchestra is going in and Guangzhou as well as in Tokyo. For Chinese New Year at Avery Fisher Hall December. its part, the Philadelphia Orchestra’s 2014 in New York City. And these are not just show-up-andChina residency included stops in five cities play tours. Each comes with a full comTo Western classical music presenters as well as Tokyo and Taipei. Among other plement of masterclasses, lectures, and and schools, the People’s Republic of Chiworks, Music Director Yannick Nézet-Sécoaching sessions. The Philadelphia Orna looks like the promised land, the perguin led Tan Dun’s Nu Shu: The Secret Songs chestra’s two-week May-June 2013 tour, fect counterbalance to a shrinking, grayof Women, based on a language spoken in honoring the 40th anniversary of its hising pool of music consumers back home. Hunan, China, in the 13th century. toric 1973 visit, included masterclasses, (Doing business with “the promised land” Then there are the myriad performing hospital tours, lectures on best practices has its own challenges, but more on that arts centers rising in even smaller cities. in arts management, and coaching seslater.) Hong Kong is building a $2.8 bil“Every city is competing to build bigger sions in five cities (Hangzhou, Shanghai, lion, seventeen-venue cultural district in concert halls,” observes Joanna Lee, a Hong Tianjin, Beijing, and Macao) as part of a West Kowloon. In China, Western-style Kong- and New York-based consultant to new five-year partnership with Beijing’s symphony orchestras are popping up at an American orchestras touring China and National Centre for the Performing Arts. amazing rate: at last count, there were 58, vice-versa. Those performing arts centers The Philadelphians returned to China most of them government-supported in are hungry for content, and some struggle this spring for a two-week residency. The whole or part; twenty have to find programming due to the lack of New York Philharmonic’s joint venture a solid cultural infrastructure—another with the Shanghai Symphony reason for the plethora of Western orand Shanghai Conservatory chestra tours. launches this fall. The Juilliard “The Chinese build performing arts School is planning a campus in centers like we build stadiums,” says Tianjin, a city-in-the-making Juilliard Vice President for Global with a population of 7.5 milInitiatives Christopher Mossey. lion just 75 miles southeast of “They enroll their children in music Beijing. Lincoln Center has anlessons the same way we enroll our nounced its first international children in Little League baseball.” performing-arts consultancy, also Mossey is deeply involved with with Tianjin. The University of the Juilliard Institute in the YujiCincinnati College-Conservatory apu District of the city of Tianjin. of Music has a summer program at Still working its way through the Beijing’s Central Conservatory; the many-layered approval process a s e berg giv lph Gom San Francisco Conservatory and the in China, the Institute will be a d R e e rn o tu b re rincipal O he BSO hestra P Shanghai Conservatory have a five Juilliard’s only satellite campus, China. T f rc o O r y u n to o Symph ’s 1979 year chamber-music festival exchange; Boston lass during the BSO part recruiting tool for the main 4. sterc the Peabody Conservatory has a joint- ma hina in spring of 201 campus in New York—where the Chinese to C degree program with the Yong Siew emerged in the last decade, student population has burgeoned—and Toh Conservatory of Music in neighboring four in the last year. Beijing alone has fifpart “Western” arm of the Tianjin ConSingapore; faculty from many U.S. conserteen. There is some vagueness concerning servatory of Music, one of eleven conservatories make periodic visits to mainland whether these are professional orchestras vatories on the Chinese mainland, most of China’s comparable music schools. according to Western understanding: one which are bursting at the seams. americanorchestras.org
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