Orchestra's towering ambitions

Wayne Oquin's contemporary concert piece reflects Tianjin ensemble's range and versatility, Chen Nan reports.

On Monday, the Tianjin Juilliard Orchestra will bring an exciting new dimension to the ninth China Orchestra Festival at Beijing's National Centre for the Performing Arts, with Tower Ascending by American composer Wayne Oquin.

Inspired by the dynamic New York skyline and the universal human ambition to rise, the piece will kick off the concert at the NCPA.

A faculty member at the Juilliard School in New York, Oquin lived in Manhattan for over 20 years, where, as he puts it, he saw "the steel scaffolding of high-rise construction almost daily".