US-China forum calls for revitalizing relations through music

Leon Botstein, president of Bard College and founder of the innovative pre-professional orchestra The Orchestra Now, highlighted the universality of music. "Collaboration and exchange is a long-term game to share what we have in common as human beings, regardless of one's nationality and background."

Botstein illustrated that such communication through music could foster bonding among people from different countries, as it encourages people to put down their guards and induces more friendly interactions.

Another prominent panel speaker, a distinguished professor at the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Chen Yi, signaled that the harmonious resonance of music can transcend political barriers and pave the way for a brighter future of collaboration, friendship and mutual respect.

She noted that "not only the instrumental music but also the power of theater and musical storytelling, all these components will become the new language in which you will be shaped and influenced. I thought that it brought us back to our traditional roots."

"I adore classical music, and I do think it is one of the last areas where we can all sort of comfortably enjoy something together," said Orville Schell, director of the Center on US-China Relations at Asia Society, expressing his hope Washington and Beijing "can use it constructively" to help stabilize the bilateral relationship.