NEW YORK, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Altogether 106 U.S. outstanding student musicians, over a dozen of them Chinese Americans, have been rehearsing here this week, in their warm-up for the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA) to kick off its annual overseas tour in mid-July.
"But someday, I told myself, I want to be able to experience this, too," violinist Jason Wang from Texas recalled his days before his participation in the orchestra.
Sixteen student musicians of total or partial Chinese descent were invited to join the trip this year, from 12 states including Arizona, California, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Washington, West Virginia, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersy and Texas, according to Joanna Lee, PR for NYO-USA's Asian tour.
Wang, among them as a returnee, said in remembrance of his previous tour to China as NYO-USA member in 2015 that "we connected with Chinese audiences on a deeply emotional level with our encore performances of You and Me, a symbolically uniting piece composed for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing."
For 2018, the tour starts off with the orchestra's annual concert at Carnegie Hall on July 19, trailed by return visits to Beijing and Shanghai and debuts in Taipei, Seoul, and Daejeon from July 24 through August 3, according to the website of NYO-USA.
The orchestra travels to Asia with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, performing a new Carnegie Hall-commissioned work by Ted Hearne alongside works by Sibelius and Gershwin.
The members of the 2018 orchestra, all ages 16-19, come from 28 U.S. states plus Puerto Rico, featuring 36 returning musicians from previous years as well as 18 players who gained experience through NYO2, a Carnegie Hall ensemble for younger teens, ages 14-17.
Each summer, Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute brings together the brightest young players from across America to form the NYO-USA, a free program for all participants established in 2013.
Following a comprehensive audition process and a three-week training residency with leading professional orchestra musicians, these remarkable teenagers embark on a tour to some of the great music cities of the world, serving as dynamic music ambassadors.