In the first part of this special lecture-concert, Professor Cai will share his own experience of hearing Beethoven’s music for the first time in the midst of the Cultural Revolution. He will also briefly tell the story of how Beethoven and his music became so deeply rooted in modern China. The second part of the event will feature a 15-member ensemble of musicians from the Peking University Orchestra – a first-ever re-creation of the 1922 orchestra that premiered Beethoven in Beijing.

Thursday, November 12, 7:30pm-9pm

“Beethoven in China”

Jindong Cai, Music Director and Conductor, Stanford Symphony Orchestra

Stanford Center at Peking University

Stanford Center at Peking University | Free | RSVP

At the turn of the twentieth century, the foundations of traditional Chinese society were crumbling. Many patriotic and idealistic young people went overseas to seek inspiration and education, determined to learn from the outside world and forge a new path forward for China. Beethoven was introduced to China during this period by a series of remarkable artists and intellectuals who learned about the composer while studying in Japan. The polymath artist, writer, and monk Li Shutong was the first Chinese to write about Beethoven in a short, but revealing, article called “The Sage of Music.” Xiao Youmei was the first Chinese to bring the sound of Beethoven to Chinese people. After his studies in Japan and Germany, Xiao came back to China in 1921 and began promoting music education at Peking University, where he created the first Chinese symphony orchestra to perform Beethoven’s music. Since then, Beethoven has become an iconic figure in China and played a role in many major historical events from the May Fourth Movement to the normalization of US-China relations. Beethoven became a hero to reformers, intellectuals, music lovers, and party cadres alike. The new Penguin Special “Beethoven in China,” by Stanford professor and orchestra conductor Jindong Cai and culture journalist Sheila Melvin tells the compelling story of Beethoven and the Chinese people.

In the first part of this special lecture-concert, Professor Cai will share his own experience of hearing Beethoven’s music for the first time in the midst of the Cultural Revolution. He will also briefly tell the story of how Beethoven and his music became so deeply rooted in modern China. The second part of the event will feature a 15-member ensemble of musicians from the Peking University Orchestra – a first-ever re-creation of the 1922 orchestra that premiered Beethoven in Beijing. The performance, conducted by Maestro Cai, will give the audience a unique historical experience and allow them to travel back in time and hear how Beethoven’s music sounded when it was first performed at Peking University.

Jindong Cai is the conductor and music director of the Stanford Symphony Orchestra and a professor at Stanford University. He joined the Stanford faculty in 2004 as the first holder of the Gretchen B. Kimball Director of Orchestral Studies Chair. He is a three-time recipient of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music. Together with his wife Sheila Melvin, Cai has co-authored a series of articles for the New York Times on the performing arts in China and a book, Rhapsody in Red: How Western Classical Music Became Chinese.

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Event courtesy of Legation Quarter
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