NY Philharmonic in North Korea will be broadcast live

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The New York Philharmonic's concert in Pyongyang on February 26 will be broadcast live on satellite television, a statement from the orchestra said Friday.

The concert, which was announced December 11, is to open with the US and North Korean national anthems, the orchestra has said.

The program will be standard fare: George Gershwin's "An American in Paris," and Antonin Dvorak's ninth symphony, "From the New World." What is unusual is the venue: the East Pyongyang Grand Theater in North Korea.

The concert is already being compared to US orchestral visits to the Soviet Union in the 1950s and ping pong diplomacy with China in the 1970s, and comes amid international efforts to ensure North Korea ends its nuclear programs.

© 2008 AFP