Philadelphia Orchestra bound for new China tour

The Philadelphia Orchestra will travel again to China.

With the support of the U.S. Department of State, the Fabulous Philadelphians will return to a residency program they piloted last year — playing along with Chinese orchestras and resuming demonstrations and master classes with young Chinese musicians.

 

From May 29 to June 10, the orchestra will be performing in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Macao and, for the first time, Hangzhou. The tour will build on relationships with Chinese cultural organizations, which the orchestra has been nurturing.

“It’s based on music, relationships, and returning time and time again,” said orchestra president and CEO Allison Vulgamore. “We have a broader palette of residency work that we are doing — including section coachings, and members of the Beijing Symphony doing coachings with us.

“We play with members of the Chinese National, and we’re still in the hospitals and in the schools,” she said.

This China tour also coincides with the 40th anniversary of the historic 1973 tour, when the Philadelphia Orchestra was the first American ensemble to play in Communist China. To mark the occasion, 40 American musicians will play together with 40 Chinese musicians.