Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society returns to China on six-city tour

Notes flow from the piano, fingers bouncing along the keys, marking the return of the Lincoln Center's Chamber Music Society to China.

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center made their first visit to China in 2015. Their current tour is their first return to China after the pandemic, marking a major comeback to the stage in the country.

The Lincoln Center Society is one of the largest and most influential chamber music ensembles in the world. It will perform eight concerts in six cities during a two-week tour of China, led by artistic co-directors cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han.

"Maybe it's my imagination, but it does feel as though people remember us here and that they know now even more what to expect," said Finckel, cellist and artistic co-director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

"It's amazing and so exciting for us to reconnect with the Chinese audience. Especially I know that from 2015 to 2019, we developed such a rapport with our audience here. And so far in every city all I can see are these bright eyes in the audience. At one concert, one of the audience members even yelled out: 'We love you guys.' So that was just really rewarding for us," said Wu, pianist and artistic co-director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Members of the Lincoln Center Society also held four master classes for some of the most talented and committed conservatorium students in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Tianjin. The society also runs the Bowers Program, which is aimed at developing the next generation of musicians from all over the world.

"And when we enter the concert hall and the audience comes to see us, that kind of commitment to the art of music is something that bridges any gaps between us socially, politically, age-wise. We're all there for the same reason. And so that's where I think the real magic of music happens. It's because it's something that's above all of us. It's not even with us, it's above. And we all come to the concert hall, not looking just at each other, but looking up to something which is greater than we are," Finckel said.

"Music has no borders. This thing, it's a human instinct, an instinctive reaction, to the sound, to the greatest achievements of these incredible, great composers," Wu said.

Finckel went on to say that there was one thing that never changes in the concert hall. No matter what country or city they play in, the audience and musicians come together, having made a mutual commitment to the occasion. In a world where differences persist and divide people, music has no borders.