From Mao to Mozart: The Philadelphia Orchestra’s 80-year relationship with China
Despite the U.S. and China's complex and often tense relationship, why has the bond between China and the Philadelphia Orchestra has endured for almost 80 years?
Listen 12:50
The Philadelphia Orchestra Group was welcomed by the Chinese audience as it gave a concert in Peking on Sept. 14, 1973. (AP Photo/Hsinhua News Agency)
Despite the U.S. and China’s complex and often tense relationship, The Philadelphia Orchestra has a longstanding relationship with China dating back to the 1940s. Nearly 80 years later, why does the orchestra still occupy such a special place in Chinese culture? On this episode of The Why, Jennifer Lin, producer of the upcoming documentary “Beethoven in Bejing,” explains the history of this unlikely relationship.
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