Ah, my first tour as the Philharmonic’s Bass Trombonist.  Highlights are Brahms 4, Tchaik 6, and Dvorak 7, but a few other things are nestled in there as well, such as Gershwin’s American in Paris.  Only this time it’s Americans (and others) in Pyongyang.

 

That’s right....though the tour will take us chiefly to Taiwan and mainland China, by far the most highly publicized concert will be the one we perform in Pyongyang, North Korea, where we will perform the aforementioned Gershwin, as well as Dvorak’s New World Symphony and a number of other shorter pieces.  

 

Though the decision to go has met with some criticism, I believe it is a noble purpose for which we go to North Korea.  

 

Over the years, the Philharmonic has performed in other repressive regimes - the Soviet Union and China before they opened up to Western cultures, to name a couple of them.  Concerts in these countries didn’t so much legitimize the governments there, but instead acted as a good will offering from the people of one country to the people of another.  In many ways this has, to me at least, a humanitarian mission, and while we’ve received some criticism, I also am very glad for such support we have received, as well.

 

But even if we didn’t, I think we would do far more to help the North Korean people by coming to play than by refusing.  Recently there have been humanitarian aid organizations that have entered and then justifiably left NK.  

 

LIkewise, our mission is a humanitarian one - to reach as many of the North Korean people as we possibly can, whether leaders or followers.  To that end, our concert will be broadcast live over the official radio channels, guaranteeing that any North Korean with a battery operated radio (electricity tends to be a problem, to say the least) would be able to tune in to the Philharmonic.  And this, more than anything, is what we wish.  

 

While this single concert will certainly not solve the problems of the country, it isn’t meant to.  I and my colleagues only wish to bring joy to a people who, we believe, will benefit from it.