Classical ties deepen

On Friday, the Philadelphia Orchestra signed a cooperation agreement with the China Conservatory of Music, and announced that the China International Music (Violin) Competition will be held in Beijing in May 2020, and outlined a program of mutual cooperation over the next five years.

On May 4, the First China International Music (Piano) Competition, which was presented by the China Conservatory of Music and the Global Music Education League, was held in Beijing and three finalists－Alexander Malofeev, MacKenzie Melemed and Tony Siqi Yun－performed in the final round with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of its conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin. The final winner, Canadian pianist Tony Siqi Yun, won over the jury with a virtuoso performance of Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1.

The violin competition next year will be open to violinists between the ages of 16 and 28, and the jury members will include Italian violinist Giovanni Angeleri, first-prize winner at the International Paganini Competition in 1997, Canadian violinist Martin Beaver and Huang Bin－the director of the orchestral instruments department at the China Conservatory of Music.

"Young musicians benefit from working with world-class orchestras and conductors. The competition will bring together prominent international musicians, performers and young musical talent. We will share music together," says Wang Liguang, president of the China Conservatory of Music and chairman of the Global Music Education League－a nonprofit organization founded in Beijing in 2017 that represents 60 international music schools.

"Supporting the younger generation of musicians to reach their full potential is important for the Philadelphia Orchestra. We have developed a unique friendship with China and we are looking forward to continuing this relationship," says Tarnopolsky, adding that in the next five years the orchestra will take part in more residencies in China.

In 1973, the Philadelphia Orchestra was invited by then US president Richard Nixon to visit China following in the wake of his historic trip a year earlier. Its performance in front of a packed house at Beijing's Cultural Palace of Nationalities was the first by an American orchestra since 1949. Well-known to Chinese music lovers, the orchestra has continued to visit the country over the decades.