Amid tense U.S.-China relations, Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Orchestra is preparing to return to China and South Korea for a tour, at a time when relations between Washington and Beijing remain tense. The Philadelphians will play in Incheon and Seoul in South Korea, then travel to Beijing and Haikou in China. The China leg includes four concerts by the full orchestra.

The orchestra has been a cultural link between the two countries for more than 50 years. It made its first visit to China in 1973, and in 2023 it marked the 50th anniversary with a side-by-side concert alongside the China National Symphony Orchestra at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.

Ryan Fleur, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts, has worked on the orchestra's tours under several administrations since 2012. He says he has seen the relationship at its best and its worst, and that cultural diplomacy is feeling a general thaw right now. He also points to the personal links behind the tour, including a Philadelphia-based pianist who also lives in Shanghai, which Fleur says carries a lot of meaning in China. According to Fleur, that artist and two others on the tour all studied at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music.

The tour comes against a wider and uneven picture in U.S.-China relations. A recent Brookings analysis of a Trump-Xi summit said it produced a standing trade negotiating platform and a commitment from the two leaders to meet twice more, while the countries remain far apart on conflicts such as Ukraine and Iran. The story was reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer, and summit context comes from Brookings.