The symbolism here is so strong it can almost bring you to tears.
While the United States holds its hard-line of no negotiations with North Korea, a group of the world's greatest musicians have bridged a gap that the world's greatest leaders will not.
Most of these musicians do not speak Korean. Most of their audience members do not speak English. And yet, they understood each other.
In an image I would have given anything to see, the flags of the People's Republic and the United States stood together on the stage as the people of Korea stood to hear the national anthems of the two nations. The photo below shows the audience standing for the Star Spangled Banner.
How about this! A nation under the leadership of what could be called the most evil leader in modern times, a nation whose people are bred to detest everything that the stars and stripes stand for - this nation is rising in respect to hear our anthem, our song.
The Philharmonic opened with Dvorak's New World Symphony, a piece that the NYP debuted years ago. It is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful symphonies ever written. I can only imagine the reaction of the people as they heard those soaring melodies come from the stage. The chances are good that they had never heard this piece, first and foremost because it was recorded in American and second because it was written when Dvorak was in America and was based on American themes.
The orchestra continued with George Gershwin's "An American in Paris." The conductor, while speaking to the audience, is reported to have said, "Maybe one day, we'll be talking about Americans in Pyongyang."
It was an orchestra conductor who spoke some of the greatest words of hope in nation with none. Not a president, not a politician, but a conductor.
So what does this all mean?
This story is perhaps one of the most beautiful displays of the power of music and art. When all else has failed - all words, all letters, all discussions, talks, and summits - when all else has failed, send in the musicians. Send in the people whose only agenda is to elevate and lift humanity.
The humble musicians of the world's greatest orchestra did not plan on getting the North Koreans to disarm their nuclear production plants. They did not plan on unseating Kim Jong Il. They did not plan on opening up the border or sending in troops.
No, these musicians wanted only to show these people something truly beautiful. Because when people hear great music, see great theater, stand in awe of a great painting or statue, they are changed. Art, in general, and music, specifically, show us what it means to be a human being. It means that we feel, that we empathize, that we use five senses. We can believe and we can doubt, we can be excited and happy or disappointed and sad. We can feel joy and grief, know laughter and tears.
These are the things that make us humans. And I hope that the musicians of the New York Philharmonic were able to help the North Koreans to see their humanity, and ours, again. And maybe, just maybe, they can realize that freedom to express and think aren't as evil as they believe. Maybe, just maybe, they'll understand that being human comes before being a North Korean.
And maybe, just maybe, by hearing true beauty, they will begin to find the truth in the world and see that they can be greater than what they are.
...that it could be just as the symphony they heard - perhaps this could be a New World.
