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Tours and Travels

2024 China, November 4–5: Beijing—Chengdu

November 6, 2024
Photo: 2024 Todd Rosenberg Photography
Nov. 4, Beijing: Today was the final rehearsal and concert at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA). The complex was designed by Paul Andreu and opened in December 2007. The Orchestra first performed at the NCPA in May 2010.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 4, Beijing: Principal Timpani Don Liuzzi puts damp sponges in the timpani prior to the rehearsal. The calfskin timpani heads need time to adjust to the warm stage lights, so moisture is used to equalize the drying effect of those lights.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 4, Beijing: The rehearsal included Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, which will be performed later on the tour with pianist George Li, seen here concentrating intensely during the rehearsal.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 4, Beijing: Violinist Willa Finck during the rehearsal of the Rachmaninoff.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 4, Beijing: George and Principal Guest Conductor Marin Alsop consult the score during the rehearsal.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 4, Beijing: Principal Bassoon Daniel Matsukawa looks cool in his shades.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 4, Beijing: A number of musicians took the subway to the silk market to pick up custom-made suits they had ordered earlier in the week.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 4, Beijing: Trumpet player Anthony Prisk (foreground) and cellist Derek Barnes found a Hyundai show room in the mall underneath the hotel that had two VR Car Driving Simulator games.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 4, Beijing: Violinists Mei Ching Huang and Daniel Han get a bite to eat before the evening concert.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 4, Beijing: Marin enters the concert hall at the start of the performance.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 4, Beijing: The first piece on the program was Beethoven’s "Leonore" Overture No. 3, which calls for offstage trumpet, here played by Principal Trumpet Esteban Batallán.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 4, Beijing: The audience was filled with people of all ages.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 4, Beijing: Brahms’s Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn was performed directly before intermission.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 4, Beijing: Violinist Paul Arnold walks on stage for the second half of the concert.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 4, Beijing: The second violin and viola sections, including Philip Kates (center), during Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 4, Beijing: A member of the audience follows along with a score on an iPad.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 4, Beijing: Hirono Oka stores her violin in the trunk for tomorrow’s flight to Chengdu.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 4, Beijing: Marin is joined by Philadelphia Orchestra President and CEO Matías Tarnopolsky (to her right) and Philadelphia Orchestra Executive Director Ryan Fleur (third from right) for a post-concert meet and greet. To Marin's left is Li Xincao, president of the China Music Conservatory, who shared conducting duties for a side-by-side concert with members of The Philadelphia Orchestra and the China National Symphony Orchestra during last year’s Official 50th Anniversary Performance at the NCPA. Tonight’s concert was presented by the China Conservatory of Music in collaboration with the Global Music Education League and commemorated the Conservatory’s 60th anniversary.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 4, Beijing: Stagehand Edward Garvey and Don pack the timpani for the journey to the tour’s next stop.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 5, Beijing: The Orchestra traveled to Chengdu today. Daniel Han drops off his luggage in the hotel lobby prior to the bus ride to the airport.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 5, Beijing: Violinist Barbara Govatos picks up some souvenirs in a gift shop at the Beijing Capital International Airport.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 5, on the flight to Chengdu: Beautiful mountain scenery from the airplane.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 5, on the flight to Chengdu: Each member of the tour party received a panda figurine from Hainan Airlines, the premiere sponsor of the 2024 China Tour.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 5, Chengdu: The panda made a cute accessory to Assistant Principal Bass Tobias Vigneau’s backpack.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 5, Chengdu: Principal Percussion Christopher Deviney holds an appropriate sign describing the food in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. Sichuan food is known for its bold, spicy flavors and its use of red chilies.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 5, Chengdu: Xiao Ying (far right), head of the Chengdu Symphony Orchestra, greeted the tour party at the Chengdu Tianfu International Airport. Philadelphia Orchestra President and CEO Matías Tarnopolsky and Principal Guest Conductor Marin Alsop share a laugh with him.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 5, Chengdu: Matías, Marin, and Xiao Ying pose with violinist Davyd Booth (second from left), violist Renard Edwards (center), Philadelphia Orchestra Executive Director Ryan Fleur (second from right), and Alan Clark (far right), deputy public affairs officer of the United States Embassy Beijing. Davyd and Renard were both on the Orchestra’s historic 1973 tour of China.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 5, Chengdu: The panda-monium begins! Chengdu and the surrounding area are associated with the giant panda, a Chinese national symbol, which inhabits the area of Sichuan. Principal Oboe Philippe Tondre is surrounded by an embarrassment of pandas (the true name for a group of the animal).

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 5, Chengdu: Several musicians and staff went straight from the airport to the Financial City Twin Towers, currently the second tallest buildings in Chengdu at 814 feet. Three times per night, there is a light show at the Towers.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 5, Chengdu: Matías is interviewed by local media outlets.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 5, Chengdu: At 7:30 PM, the Towers advertised the Orchestra’s upcoming side-by-side concert with the Chengdu Symphony Orchestra.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 5, Chengdu: Matías poses with Li Tian Zhao (left), deputy director of the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, and Xiao Ying.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 5, Chengdu: The Chengdu Symphony Orchestra gave a concert beneath the towers. Soprano Erica WenMeng Gu performed with the ensemble.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 5, Chengdu: The Towers illuminated during the concert.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 5, Chengdu: (L to r) Matías, violinist Eliot Heaton, violist Marvin Moon, and violist Meng Wang congratulate Erica on her performance.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 5, Chengdu: Principal Horn Jennifer Montone often brings her two sons on tour. Here they check out some local food offerings at an outdoor cart.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Nov. 5, Chengdu: Several members of the party went out for Sichuan hot pot after the Twin Towers event: (l to r) Marvin; Concertmaster David Kim; Matías; Matías’s wife, Birgit Hottenrott; Philippe; and Ryan, who is striking a bell as part of a special meal ceremony.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg