2007.10.06: October 6, 2007: Headlines: COS - Korea: Figures: COS - Cameroon: Diplomacy: Music: New York Times: Hill played a role in brokering a possible visit of the New York Philharmonic to North Korea
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2007.10.06: October 6, 2007: Headlines: COS - Korea: Figures: COS - Cameroon: Diplomacy: Music: New York Times: Hill played a role in brokering a possible visit of the New York Philharmonic to North Korea
Hill played a role in brokering a possible visit of the New York Philharmonic to North Korea
With the encouragement of the State Department, officials of the New York Philharmonic were en route to North Korea yesterday to discuss a possible concert in Pyongyang in February. The chief United States negotiator, Christopher R. Hill, played a role in brokering a possible Philharmonic visit, meeting with orchestra officials last month at the State Department’s suggestion, Mr. Latzky said. “Ambassador Hill was very encouraging,” he said. “He felt that this would be a positive endeavor.” Mr. Hill was ambassador to South Korea when the Philharmonic toured there in 2004. He attended a concert and spoke warmly at a reception for the orchestra, Mr. Latzky said. Christopher R. Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon.
Hill played a role in brokering a possible visit of the New York Philharmonic to North Korea
New York Philharmonic Might Play in North Korea
By DANIEL J. WAKIN
Published: October 5, 2007
With the encouragement of the State Department, officials of the New York Philharmonic were en route to North Korea yesterday to discuss a possible concert in Pyongyang in February.
The idea of a visit to North Korea, where the totalitarian government keeps a tight rein on the people and sharply restricts access to the outside world, began with a somewhat vague invitation in August but has taken shape in recent weeks. Zarin Mehta, the orchestra’s president, and Eric Latzky, its public relations director, were in Beijing yesterday and are due in North Korea tomorrow.
In telephone interviews they said they would examine possible halls, hotels and travel arrangements. “It would be kind of extraordinary for us to play there,” Mr. Mehta said. “If this venture helps in furthering what’s been going on in the last couple of weeks in terms of the normalizing of relationships,” he said, “that would become a wonderful thing for the world.”
The trip by Philharmonic officials coincided with what appeared to be progress in diplomatic efforts to limit North Korea’s nuclear program. An agreement announced on Wednesday sets out a plan for the country to disable its nuclear facilities in exchange for fuel oil or economic aid. The United States is a party to these negotiations, and the Bush administration has praised the deal.
The chief United States negotiator, Christopher R. Hill, played a role in brokering a possible Philharmonic visit, meeting with orchestra officials last month at the State Department’s suggestion, Mr. Latzky said. “Ambassador Hill was very encouraging,” he said. “He felt that this would be a positive endeavor.”
Mr. Hill was ambassador to South Korea when the Philharmonic toured there in 2004. He attended a concert and spoke warmly at a reception for the orchestra, Mr. Latzky said.
The exploratory trip also comes at a time of what appears to be a softening in relations between the United States and North Korea. Members of North Korea’s United Nations mission, usually required to remain within a small radius of New York City, were recently granted permission to make a short tourist visit with family members to Washington. University and sports contacts have also increased between the two countries.
The visit would probably come at the end of the orchestra’s planned tour in China, from Feb. 7 to 25. Given North Korea’s deep isolation for so many years, it is unclear what conditions would be like for a major Western symphony orchestra.
“It’s obviously not routine,” Mr. Mehta said. “It’s a country that none of us have ever dreamed of going to. The next three or four days are going to be very eye-opening for us.”
He said the Philharmonic would not consider going to North Korea without American government support. “We didn’t even start to think about going until we had positive signals from the State Department that it was a good thing,” he said. Philharmonic officials point out that a visit with political implications would not be a first for the orchestra. Leonard Bernstein took the orchestra to the Soviet Union in the late 1950s, Mr. Latzky said.
Word of the invitation first came in mid-August, Mr. Latzky said, transmitted by a Korean cultural agent in California. A North Korean diplomat from the country’s United Nations mission visited orchestra officials a month later. A formal letter from the Ministry of Culture followed.
“As various questions began to be answered, we realized that the next step would be an advance visit,” Mr. Latzky said.
North Korea provides some education in Western classical music, Mr. Latzky said. It has at least one important orchestra, the State Symphony Orchestra of the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea, which has made at least one recording and visited South Korea. State media has reported several times that North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-il, has attended performances.
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Story Source: New York Times
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Korea; Figures; COS - Cameroon; Diplomacy; Music
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