When music connects

Musicians from Canada's NAC Orchestra stage a brass quintet at Fragrant Hills in Beijing. Photos provided to China Daily

Video: Canadian National Orchestra tours in BJ

Music connects Canada and China

"There is now a prevailing view that the center of classical music in the world is China, and that in the next 25 to 50 years China will come to dominate classical music," he says.

"There are more young people taking classical music lessons here than there are anywhere (else) on earth. The level of talent is remarkable; the audiences are passionate. This is an absolute hotbed of classical music. It's one of the reasons why so many Western orchestras are interested in playing here. It's not just that China is an emerging economic power; it's also that China is this powerhouse culturally, particularly in classical music."

Herrndorf says he saw plenty of evidence music could be used as an effective tool to strengthen bilateral ties during a performance on Oct 17 at Beijing's iconic concert hall, "the egg".

Hosted by celebrity Mark "Dashan" Rowsell - the most high-profile Canadian in China - the concert at China's National Center for the Performing Arts used high-speed internet to link Beijing with an event being simultaneously held in Ottawa. The wife of the Canadian Prime Minister even made a personal appearance.

Linda Huang, dean of cultural exchange at NCPA, says music as diplomacy is something China is keen to partake in, too.

Herrndorf says the recent tour, made possible in part by a three-year memorandum of understanding and cooperation signed with the NCPA, was just the first significant milestone in the budding relationship between the two organizations.

Huang says the next step will see the NCPA tour Canada, and possibly several cities in the US, next year.

With the average age in the 90-strong Chinese orchestra coming in at just 30 years old, Huang says despite their much-lauded talent, the NCPA musicians could learn much from their Western counterparts.

So if music really is the universal language, what is the message Herrndorf believes the orchestra has conveyed to China, on behalf of Canada?

"The message is there has been a very longstanding relationship between China and Canada ... and music is a wonderful way to enhance that relationship."

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