# Beethoven in Beijing: Stories from the Philadelphia Orchestra's Historic Journey to China - Hardcover

by **Jennifer Lin** (Author), **Yannick Nézet-Séguin** (Foreword by)

In 1973, Western music was banned in the People's Republic of China. But in a remarkable breakthrough cultural exchange, the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted a tour of closed-off China, becoming the first American orchestra to visit the communist nation. Jennifer Lin's _Beethoven in Beijing_ provides a fabulous photo-rich oral history of this boundary-breaking series of concerts the orchestra performed under famed conductor Eugene Ormandy.

Lin draws from interviews, personal diaries, and news accounts to give voice to the American and Chinese musicians, diplomats, journalists, and others who participated in and witnessed this historic event. _Beethoven in Beijing_ is filled with glorious images as well as anecdotes ranging from amusing sidewalk Frisbee sessions and acupuncture treatments for sore musicians to a tense encounter involving Madame Mao dictating which symphony was to be played at a concert.

A companion volume to the film of the same name, _Beethoven in Beijing_ shows how this 1973 tour came at the dawn of a resurgence of interest in classical music in China--now a vital source of revenue for touring orchestras.

### Author Biography

**Jennifer Lin** is an award-winning journalist, author, and documentary filmmaker. She created and codirected the feature-length documentary _Beethoven in Beijing_, which premiered on PBS's _Great Performances_ in 2021. For 31 years, she worked at the _Philadelphia Inquirer_ as a reporter, including posts as a foreign correspondent in China, a financial correspondent on Wall Street, and a national correspondent in Washington, DC. She is the author of _Shanghai Faithful: Betrayal and Forgiveness in a Chinese Christian Family_, and coauthor of _Sole Sisters: Stories of Women and Running_.

**Number of Pages:** 172

**Dimensions:** 0.9 x 10.3 x 8.1 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** April 29, 2022

## Details

- **Price:** 35.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 35.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Beethoven in Beijing: Stories from the Philadelphia Orchestra's Historic Journey to China - Hardcover

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