Music still orchestrates US-China ties 46 years on

NEW YORK - "Ping-pong diplomacy" is a well-known term in the history of US-China ties, but few may be aware that music also played an often overlooked part in thawing the frosty relations between the two countries.

Although it is commonplace today for artists from the United States and China to share a stage, it most certainly was not the case before the 1970s.

The Philadelphia Orchestra was at the vanguard, making history with their pioneering trip to China in 1973.