Video available through January 1st.

Beethoven in Beijing follows the Philadelphia Orchestra on their first historic trip to China in 1973 and chronicles the opening of China to Western classical music since the end of the Cultural Revolution.

The Philadelphia Orchestra, History Making Productions, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and the US-China Music Institute are offering a special exclusive free screening of the entire film on December 16 at 7:30pm, and the China Now Music Festival audience is invited!

featuring

Artists and Speakers

Artistic Director, China Now Music Festival

Jindong Cai

Artistic Director, China Now Music Festival

Conductor Jindong Cai is director of the US-China Music Institute, professor of music and arts at Bard College, and associate conductor of The Orchestra Now. Over his 30-year career in the United States, Cai has established himself as an active and dynamic conductor, scholar of Western classical music in China, and leading advocate of music from across Asia. Cai founded the US-China Music Institute at the Bard Conservatory in 2017 and created the Institute’s the annual China Now Music Festival in the following year. In its first two seasons, China Now presented new works by some of the most important Chinese composers of our time, with concerts performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Bard’s Fisher Center, and Stanford University.

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Artistic Director, China Now Music Festival

Dean, Bard College Conservatory of Music

Tan Dun

Dean, Bard College Conservatory of Music

The world-renowned artist and UNESCO Global Goodwill Ambassador Tan Dun, has made an indelible mark on the world’s music scene with a creative repertoire that spans the boundaries of classical music, multimedia performance, and Eastern and Western traditions. A winner of today’s most prestigious honors including the Grammy Award, Oscar/Academy Award, Grawemeyer Award, Bach Prize, Shostakovich Award, and most recently Italy’s Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement, Tan Dun’s music has been played throughout the world by leading orchestras, opera houses, international festivals, and on radio and television. In 2019, Tan Dun was appointed dean of the Bard College Conservatory of Music. As dean, Tan Dun will further demonstrate music’s extraordinary ability to transform lives and guide the Conservatory in fulfilling its mission of understanding music’s connection to history, art, culture, and society. Read more at http://tandun.com

The China Now Music Festival is thrilled to be presenting Tan Dun’s Internet Symphony No. 1 (Eroica) in the ‘Beethoven Made in China’ program on Dec 13, performed by the You Tube Symphony Orchestra.

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Dean, Bard College Conservatory of Music

President Emeritus, Asia Society

Ambassador Nicholas Platt

President Emeritus, Asia Society

Nicholas Platt is one of America’s most distinguished Asia experts. Having worked as both a diplomat in the US Foreign Service and in the non-governmental sector as the president of the Asia Society, he is knowledgeable of both US policy towards Asia and domestic politics within Asia.

After being educated at Harvard College and the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, Ambassador Platt began his 34-year Foreign Service career with assignments in Hong Kong (1964-68), Beijing (1973-74) and Tokyo (1974-77), and culminated with service as the US Ambassador to the Philippines (1987-1991) and Pakistan (1991-92). In 1972 he accompanied President Nixon on the historic trip to Beijing that signaled the resumption of relations between the United States and China.

Ambassador Platt joins the panel discussion “Building Bridges through Music” on Dec 17, hosted by Asia Society of Northern California and part of the 2020 China Now Music Festival.

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President Emeritus, Asia Society

filmmaker

Jennifer Lin

filmmaker

Jennifer Lin is the co-director, producer and writer of the documentary film Beethoven in Beijing. She lived and worked in China for four years as Asia correspondent for The Philadelphia Inquirer. She launched Beethoven in Beijing in 2015 after 31 years at the newspaper. For the film, Lin took four reporting trips to China. An award-winning reporter, Lin is author of two books, including a family memoir, Shanghai Faithful: Betrayal & Forgiveness in a Chinese Christian Family (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016).

Ms. Lin will join the Dec 17 webinar ‘Building Bridges through Music: Beethoven in Beijing,’ hosted by Asia Society and part of the 2020 China Now Music Festival.

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filmmaker

The Philadelphia Orchestra

Music Director: Yannick Nézet-Séguin

The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the world’s preeminent orchestras. It strives to share the transformative power of music with the widest possible audience, and to create joy, connection, and excitement through music in the Philadelphia region, across the country, and around the world. Through innovative programming, robust educational initiatives, and commitment to the community, the ensemble is on a path to create an expansive future for classical music, and to further the place of the arts in an open and democratic society. Read more at philorch.org

The China Now Music Festival is proud to be presenting a special screening of the new documentary film about the orchestra, Beethoven in Beijing: and Orchestra’s Journey on Dec 16. On Dec 17, Asia Society hosts a roundtable discussion with the filmmakers, the orchestra’s executive director, Ryan Fleur, and special guests.

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