Beijing Symphony Orchestra first appearance in NYC

Beijing Symphony Orchestra has embarked its world tour in October this year, giving performances in Mexico and the US. On October 17, the orchestra made its first appearance in Carnegie Hall, New York.

Led by Tan Linhua, President and Principal Conductor of the Orchestra, the group aimed to share with the audience works of Western classical and Chinese contemporary symphonic music. The evening began with Lotus Overture and the Chinese flute concerto, Chou Kong Shan (Sorrowful Desolate Mountain) by a Chinese composer called Guo Wenjing.

The orchestra particularly amazed audience with the second piece, in which Bamboo Flute soloist Tang Jun Qiao played the instrument brilliantly, a showcase of Chinese instruments to Westerners.

Having given many performances in Europe, Mr. Tan saw the similarity between the audience in two continents, he told People’s Daily Online. “I have been touring in Europe a lot; I think the reaction of the audience here is similar. They are picky, because they have a lot of good experiences with wonderful orchestras here,” he said.

Mr. Tan observed that in comparison to the Mexican audience whom they had met in their tour, Chinese audience tends to be relatively conservative, while the former group showed great enthusiasm.

Overall, Mr. Tan said he’s very satisfied with the success the orchestra had of the night in New York. The orchestra ended the concert with a total of five encores, with one of them as the famous Chinese music Jasmine.