Word: orchestra
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...full of a world-weariness that's partly feigned but partly real. But nobody was feeling--or even pretending to be--blasé aboard the chartered Asiana Airlines 747 from Beijing as it bore down on Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, on Feb. 25 carrying the New York Philharmonic orchestra and 80 mostly U.S. journalists. For many of us, North Korea has long been as remote as the dark side of the moon, so we were more than eager to get a look at it. Television cameramen jostled for position in window seats to capture images of the brown, frozen...
...orchestra's last piece was, for the audience, the most poignant. It played Arirang, a traditional Korean folk anthem loved in both North and South. Koreans have sung versions of the song for 600 years, and it speaks to a longing in both countries to become a whole nation again. As the orchestra began to leave the stage, several members turned and waved goodbye, and many in the audience reciprocated. Bassist Jon Deak later said he was near tears. So too was a young Korean-American assistant concertmaster, Michelle Kim, a descendant of a North Korean family who lived...
...over the moon right now." He said he had "misted up" at the playing of the U.S. national anthem in Pyongyang, and that the emotional power of the evening only grew from there. He was right. Several hard-bitten journalists, myself included, choked up at various points, and several orchestra members spoke of breaking down in the wings after leaving the stage as the audience continued to stand and applaud. U.S. diplomats, current and former, were euphoric. Donald Gregg, a former State Department and CIA official, who diplomats say has played a quiet but influential role in getting the Bush...
...euphoria over the concert was the fact that it came less than two weeks after Kim's 66th birthday - a day when the national cult of personality goes into overdrive. No one should be surprised if the regime's message to its populace is, Look, even a famous American orchestra plays for the Dear Leader...
...written from the perspective of hope, and hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are.' MARKETA IRGLOVA, musician, after winning an Academy Award for the song Falling Slowly from the movie Once. Host Jon Stewart brought her back onstage after the orchestra accidentally cut off her words following co-songwriter Glen Hansard's acceptance speech...