This talk will explore how Beethoven became an iconic figure in the People’s Republic of China and consider the role that his music, and classical music in general, has played in China’s internal politics and diplomatic relationships. The Philadelphia Orchestra’s history, and example, as a bridge builder between the US and China will receive particular focus.

Zoom webinar registration at: https://myumi.ch/P1bky

Jindong Cai: A conductor, author, and educator with a distinguished career, Jindong Cai is the director of the US-China Music Institute, co-director of the Chinese Music Development Initiative, and professor of music and arts at Bard College. Prior to joining Bard, he was a professor of performance at Stanford University. Over the 30 years of his career in the United States, Cai has established himself as an active and dynamic conductor, scholar of Western classical music in China, and leading advocate of music from across Asia. He has conducted most of the top orchestras in China, as well as orchestras across North America, and has written extensively on music and the performing arts in China. Together with his wife Sheila Melvin, Cai has coauthored "Rhapsody in Red: How Western Classical Music Became Chinese" as well as "Beethoven in China: How the Great Composer Became an Icon in the People’s Republic."

Sheila Melvin is the co-author, with her husband, the conductor Jindong Cai, of "Rhapsody in Red: How Western Classical Music Became Chinese," which was short-listed for the Saroyan Prize in 2005; "Beethoven in China: How the Great Composer Became an Icon in the People’s Republic" (Penguin, 2016), which was featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered;” and "The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra: Music Connecting Worlds" (Sanlian, 2019 limited edition). Ms. Melvin’s writing on the arts in Asia, primarily China, has been published in The International Herald Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, The Asian Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The San Jose Mercury News, The Wilson Quarterly, and other publications.

Ms. Melvin is also a writer for the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Earlier in her career, she spent many years working for the US-China Business Council and established the Council’s first office in Shanghai. She is the author of "The Little Red Book of China Business" (Sourcebooks, 2008).