Sellout at the Forbidden City

The Philharmonia takes a bow in the Forbidden City Concert Hall

The Philharmonia’s second tour concert took place on Tuesday, July 22 at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing. The concert hall is close to the ancient buildings of the Forbidden City, but is a modern hall with all the amenities one would expect: spacious dressing rooms, motorized stage risers for various configurations, a huge stage, and excellent lighting. This concert, like the Seoul concert, was a sellout. It was incorporated into the Musicathlon and also into a concert series that promoted classical music to a young audience.

The audience stands for the Chinese and American national anthems.

The program featured the same works by Bernstein and Dvorak, but this time the concerto was the first cello concerto by Saint-Saens, featuring Jian Wang. Wang is one of our most distinguished alumni, and it is clear that he is a beloved artist in his native China. He received an enormous ovation after the concerto, and performed two enccores, both selections from Bach solo cello suites.

Jian Wang shown rehearsing with Shinik Hahm and the Philharmonia on Tuesday afternoon

Another  big hit was the world premiere of Derrick Wang’s colorful and brilliant arrangement of a Chinese folk song for full orchestra. The work features many effects emulating Chinese traditional instuments, such as the Erhu and Chinese cymbals. Violin solos were played by Wayne Lin, and he received cheers after the performance.

A lunch hosted by President Wang

Dean Blocker presents a framed assortment of Yale CDs to President Wang. On the left is Lily Tao, Wang's assistant, who was extraordinarily helpful with many aspects of the tour.

On July 22, after our visit to the Forbidden City, President Cizhao Wang of the Central Conservatory hosted a luncheon for Yale faculty and staff who were in Beijing for the Musicathlon and Philharmonia tour. Joining him were other members of the CCOM faculty and staff, including Yongyan Hu, music director of the EOS orchestra who would conduct the Mahler Second Symphony the next night at the National Center for the Performing Arts.

The Yale attendees included Deputy Dean Thomas Masse, Dr. James Perlotto, faculty members Robert Van Sice and William Purvis with his wife Mihae Lee, staff members Dana Astmann, Jennifer Chen, Krista Johnson, Grant Meachum, Vincent Oneppo, and  Renata Steve.

A visit to the Forbidden City

Members of the Philharmonia posed for a group photo at the Forbidden City

The morning of the Forbidden City Concert Hall concert on July 22, most of the members of the Philharmonia toured one of Beijing’s most famous tourist attractions: The Forbidden City itself.