Musicians from the Philadelphia Orchestra and Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra perform during a Chinese New Year concert in Philadelphia, the United States, Jan. 29, 2019. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
Lunar new year becomes a more popular event because of the growing voice of local Chinese Americans in the United States. Wide-ranging people-to-people exchanges between the U.S. and China also help reinforce the popularity of Chinese culture in the country, said Wei Zhou, founder and president of Weiber Consulting.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- This year's Spring Festival is becoming "a truly globalized celebration" as all top orchestras in the United States have moved their Lunar New Year concerts online amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic, a veteran industry insider has said.
"The good thing about it is that you break the barrier of a localized celebration because that everything is online ... We can actually enjoy all ... it truly becomes a globalization celebration this year," said Wei Zhou, founder and president of Weiber Consulting, in an interview with Xinhua via Zoom.
San Francisco symphony, which has held Lunar New Year in-person concerts for consecutive 20 years, is holding a virtual celebration on Feb. 20, according to Zhou.
New York Philharmonic also has to do their 10th year celebration online on Feb. 16. The free concert broadcast will air on the Philharmonic's Facebook and YouTube channels.
Philadelphia orchestra, which had a very successful first Lunar New Year celebration last year, is holding a digital stage concert from Feb. 4-14, which begins with a performance premiere, followed by on-demand access for 10 days.
With more and more mainstream culture organizations including these top orchestras marking traditional Chinese festivals, one can tell that Chinese heritage and culture are "increasingly a part of the U.S. culture diversity, said Zhou, adding "the diversity of culture makes the U.S. a better place."
Chinese conductor Yu Long conducts "The Butterfly Lovers" with the orchestra during a Lunar New Year Concert by New York Philharmonic in New York, the United States, Jan. 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
"These festivals make me feel that I have deep roots back in China ... Without a part of a Chinese culture, then America really will lose a big chunk of the meaning," she said. The Chinese New Year became a public holiday for schools in New York in 2016.
Zhou attributed the growing popularity of the Spring Festival and traditional Chinese culture to the continuous efforts of those dedicated Chinese American business and culture leaders in the past decades.
"They're using their resource and connections to engage more and more people from outside of the Chinese community to our event. Lunar new year becomes a more popular event because of the growing voice of local Chinese Americans in the country," she said.
Zhou had worked over 10 years with legendary businesswoman Shirley Young, co-chair of the New York philharmonic Chinese lunar new year gala concert, to promote the awareness and acceptance of Chinese culture in New York. Young, who died at 85 last year, founded the U.S.-China Cultural Institute after her retirement.
One of the fantastic projects they did was inviting 400 students to paint a 40-foot (12-meter) scroll depicting the landmarks of New York City's five boroughs in 2018 Spring Festival.
The idea was inspired by an ancient Chinese painting "Along the River During the Qingming Festival," also known by its Chinese name as the "Qingming Shanghe Tu," a masterpiece that depicts the lives of people along the Bian River during the Song Dynasty over 800 years ago.
Conductor Zhang Xian (L, front) introduces pianist Zuo Zhang (C) during the 18th Annual Lunar New Year Concert and Celebration held in Davies Symphony Hall of San Francisco, the United States, Feb. 24, 2018. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)
"That is something I think Shirley has taught me that we should also deepen the scope of the events to show all the aspect of how Chinese celebrate the Lunar New Year," she said.
Wide-ranging people-to-people exchanges between the United States and China also help reinforce the popularity of Chinese culture in the country, said Zhou.
"I'm also very glad to see that recent years there are more outstanding Chinese classical music orchestra coming to North America to perform ... They're bringing not only the western music played by the Chinese orchestras, but they're also bringing Chinese composers' works. This kind of culture exchange is very meaningful for the two countries," she said. ■
