Founded in 1939, the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra is one of the oldest youth orchestras in the United States. Ranging in age from 10 to 21 years, the gifted players from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware are selected from competitive auditions.

They present a full season of orchestral concerts each year and also participate in a chamber music series at the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra Center to audiences and critics.

International concert tours since 1981 have offered the young players the opportunity to perform in the world's great concert halls where their performances have been compared to professional symphonies.

In 1985, the orchestra visited China for the first time and performed in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Tianjin. Primavera's wonderful conducting inspired the young players to showcase their talents, said Chinese critics at that time.

Born to a famous violin maker in Philadelphia, Primavera began his musical studies at the age of five. The versatile musician learnt trombone, violin, viola, orchestration and conducting at the music school.

Then he became the assistant principal violist in the Baltimore Symphony and later joined the Philadelphia Orchestra.

In 1960, he received the coveted C. Hartman Kuhn Award for "musical ability and enterprise of such character as to enhance the standards and reputation of the Orchestra."

Primavera started to conduct the orchestra in 1954 and has taken the orchestra to 20 countries on five continents on its nine previous concert tours.

He also conducted the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rome Festival Opera, the National Opera Orchestra of China and Opera Barga of Italy.

For the concert in Beijing, the orchestra will perform Mozart's "Overture of La Clemenza di Tito," Walter Piston's "Symphony No 2," Schubert's "Symphony No 9 in C major" and two Chinese pieces. One is an erhu music-rearranged symphony "Moon over the Second Spring" and the other is Ma Sitsung's "Longing for Home."

"To perform Chinese music in this great country is an incredible opportunity for young players from the US," Primavera said.

(China Daily July 8, 2002)