In Search Of Perfect Consonance

Twenty-five years ago, China was at war with Vietnam, the Chinese and the Japanese were at loggerheads, and relations across the Taiwan Strait were frosty. In Search of Perfect Consonance profiles the Asian Youth Orchestra (AYO), set up against this backdrop with the aim of connecting the region's young people through music. The 100 members of the AYO are among the finest young musicians from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Chosen through highly competitive auditions held throughout the region, they are together for six weeks each summer, first for a three-week rehearsal camp in Hong Kong, then for a three-week international concert tour alongside celebrated conductors and solo artists. As we watch the budding musicians of today's Asia learn to work together and become what San Francisco Chronicle describes as the "finest among youth orchestras around the world", we are reminded of the higher ideals that music inspires.