A relationship of note

He also remembers watching the Chinese ballet, The White-Haired Girl, and attending lavish banquets, where he became very familiar with toasting ganbei!

Since that historic visit, the orchestra has returned to China in 1993, 1996, 2001, 2008, and 2010, when it played at the opening of the World Expo in Shanghai, prior to further, almost annual, tours between 2012 and 2017. In 2019, the orchestra once again returned to China with a tour marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Light has witnessed the lasting friendship between the orchestra and its Chinese audiences. He has also frequently traveled back to China to perform and give master classes.

"I am impressed with the rise of the country," says Light.

On Feb 21, he, along with a group of guest speakers, attended an online symposium organized by Tianjin Juilliard School, the first overseas campus launched by the New York performing arts educational institution.

With a theme of "fifty years of musical exchange between the United States and China", the event was held to mark the 50th anniversary of the former US president Richard Nixon's historic visit to China.

On Feb 21, 1972, Premier Zhou Enlai greeted Nixon at Beijing's airport. The visit by Nixon to China, which concluded with the signing of the China-US joint communique, opened the door to an ongoing relationship between the two countries in nearly all aspects of life, including music, culture and education.

Over the past five decades, classical music's popularity has surged across China, prompting the construction of many new concert halls and the musical education and development of tens of thousands of children－many of whom have gone on to perform internationally, some even leaders in their fields. Music exchange programs have also been conducted by musicians from both countries.