Where No American Orchestra Has Gone Before

Although the New York Philharmonic has performed thousands of concerts across five continents since its founding in 1842, its musicians recently ventured into brand-new territory—North Korea.

With its February performance at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre, the Philharmonic became the first American orchestra to play in North Korea.

Among the musicians who offered up Wagner, Dvorˇák, and Gershwin—and each country’s national anthem—were seven Eastman School alumni and one faculty member: William Blossom ’69E (bass), Mindy Kaufman ’78E (flute and piccolo), Christopher Lamb ’81E (percussion), Judith LeClair ’79E (bassoon), Roger Nye ’86E (bassoon), Albert Regni ’58E (saxophone), Thomas Stacy ’60E (English horn), and Robert DiLutis, a part-time instructor.

“I don’t usually get teary when I play the anthem, but I felt very emotional when we played their anthem followed by our anthem,” says Kaufman, “because I felt that it was such a moment of bringing us together, just from this small gesture.”

—Katina Antoniades