The Biggest Yet

Later this month the Philadelphia Orchestra will embark on the most intensive tour of China of any major American orchestra.

The weeklong tour and residency pilot program will last from May 28 to June 6 in a partnership with the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.

The tour will include five full concerts in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangzhou, and spinoff ensembles will perform at various community centers, schools for the handicapped and even a special concert at the Great Wall.

Mixed among these performances will also be open rehearsals, lectures, joint performances with local musicians and the world premiere of Du Wei’s “Interrupted Dream.”

The residency is a preview of a five-year collaboration starting in 2013 with a three-week tour of the whole country, marking the 40th anniversary of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s historic 1973 visit to China with its most famous musical director, Eugene Ormandy.

The program also shows the world that the ensemble is still a vital force for classical music one year after becoming the first major American orchestra to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 11.

The 111-year organization hopes to announce that it will emerge from bankruptcy in the next three months.