New York Philharmonic Performs in North Korea

NPR | By Anthony Kuhn

Published February 26, 2008 at 6:00 AM EST

The New York Philharmonic rehearses in Pyongyang's Grand Eastern Theater.

The New York Philharmonic is in North Korea as part of a historic cultural exchange. The philharmonic is the first major American cultural group to visit the isolated communist nation. The group will perform a concert Tuesday night that will be aired on state-run radio and television.

Critics say the concert only serves to burnish the image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

But conductor Lorin Maazel points out that North Korean musicians are participating in the concert, as well as in master classes with the philharmonic.

He says cultural exchanges are planting the seeds of art, which is more powerful than any individual leader.

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