Chicago to China: A Giddy Musical Exchange

The Chicago Symphony played a few concerts in China for the first time. The concert was very well received, and what made it even richer, is that the second-chair of the first violin section, Li-Kou Chang, was the first musician from mainland China to play in a world-class orchestra.
These concerts in China are not as novel as when the New York Philharmonic played in North Korea last year, but still represent a beautiful exchange of culture between the two countries. It is a bit reminescent of the Ping-Pong Diplomacy of yester-year.
As Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young said, "(Smiling) is something everybody, everywhere does in the same language."


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/16/arts/music/16symp.html