Two chapters of American history, separated by more than a century, sit at the center of this year’s China Now Music Festival in New York. One belongs to the thousands of Chinese laborers who helped build the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860s. The other belongs to Maya Lin, the American artist born to Chinese immigrant parents who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Under the theme “Chasing Dreams,” and as the United States marks its 250th anniversary, the festival pairs Zhou Long and Sui Wei’s symphonic oratorio “Men of Iron and the Golden Spike” with Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s chamber opera “The Rift.” Both, as the festival’s founder Jindong Cai sees it, place the Chinese American experience inside the larger American story rather than beside it.

Cai, director of the US China Music Institute at Bard College and an associate conductor of The Orchestra Now, was born in Beijing, and studied with Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood. He has spent three decades in the United States conducting, teaching and advocating for music from across Asia. He launched the festival in 2018 in collaboration with the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

OperaWire spoke with Cai about the vision behind the festival, the two works on this year’s program, the path that brought him to the podium and his own artistic dreams.

OperaWire: I would love to know more about your vision for the China Now Festival. How has it evolved?

Jindong Cai: The US-China Music Institute at Bard College was established in 2017. In collaboration with the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, the China Now Music Festival in New York became one of the important initiatives of our work. When we started the festival in 2018, my vision was to introduce American audiences to the richness and diversity of contemporary music from China. Over the past two decades, China has not only become an important economic power, but has also emerged as an increasingly influential cultural force, including in music. I wanted to create a platform where Chinese, Chinese-American, and American composers and musicians could be heard together, particularly in major cultural venues in New York.

Over the years, the festival has evolved into something much broader. It is no longer simply about presenting Chinese music to an American audience. It has become a place for Chinese and American musicians, composers, scholars, and audiences to come together and explore our shared experiences through music. Each year, we choose a different theme that allows us to look at the relationship between China and the United States from a new perspective.

For me, music is a particularly powerful way to build cultural understanding. It allows us to tell stories, ask questions, and discover connections that may not always be possible through words or politics. I want the festival to go beyond cultural presentation and explore the creativity of humanity.  That is especially important for this year’s festival, “Chasing Dreams.” As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, we are looking at stories that connect Chinese and American histories—from the Chinese railroad workers who helped build the Transcontinental Railroad to Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial, as an American artist of Chinese heritage. These are historical stories, but they are also deeply human stories about dreams, sacrifice, perseverance, and the desire to create something meaningful.

Ultimately, my hope is that audiences come to China Now not only to hear great music, but also to discover new perspectives and connections between our two cultures. That has been the heart of the festival from the beginning, and it continues to shape where we are going.

OW: Tell me about the two programs you are presenting: an opera and an oratorio. How did you decide on featuring these works?

JC: The two major works in this year’s festival are very different in style and subject, but they are connected by a common idea: the Chinese-American experience and the stories of people who pursued their dreams.

The first is Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s chamber opera, “The Rift.” It tells the story of Maya Lin and her iconic creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I was drawn to this work because it’s not only the story behind Maya Lin’s experience of an Asian American artist who transformed a deeply American subject through her own perspective. The opera also gives us an opportunity to explore questions of identity, memory, was, and how we understand American history.

The US-China Music Institute and Stanford University’s Center for East Asian Studies c0-commissioned “Men of Iron and the Golden Spike” in 2017 and was premiered in 2019 in Carnegie Hall and Stanford University’s Bing Concert Hall. It’s a large-scale symphonic oratorio about the Chinese railroad workers who helped build the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860s. This is an important part of American history that has often received less attention than it deserves. Zhou Long and Sui Wei bring their story to life through music, giving voice to the thousands of Chinese workers whose labor was essential to this extraordinary achievement.

I chose these two works because, although one is a smaller scale of opera in one act and the other is a large symphonic work, both tell stories about Chinese and Chinese American contributions to American history. They also reflect the theme of this year’s festival, “Chasing Dreams.” One focuses on an American artist of Chinese heritage; the other looks back at Chinese immigrants who came to America seeking opportunity and helped build the country.

As the conductor, I find the contrast between the two works particularly meaningful. One is very personal and intimate, while the other is monumental in scale, but both powerful. Together, they allow us to experience these stories from very different musical perspectives—and to think about what the pursuit of a dream means across generations.

OW: Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang are one of the most renowned opera duos in the world. What makes this work unique from their other operas and what excites you most about presenting it to audiences? What kind of experience do you hope they have when they hear this work?

JC: Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang have created several important operas together, but “The Rift” is unique because of its deeply personal connection to American history and identity. The story of Maya Lin and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial brings together questions of art, memory, immigration, war, and what it means to be American. Maya Lin was born to Chinese immigrant parents, yet her work became part of one of the most important public memorials in the United States. What excites me most is the intimacy of the piece. “The Rift” allows the audience to come very close to the four characters and to experience the emotional and psychological dimensions of the story.

As a conductor, I am also excited by the opportunity to bring this work to New York audiences in the context of the China Now Music Festival. It connects directly with our theme, “Chasing Dreams,” because Maya Lin’s story is ultimately about an artist following her own vision and finding her voice within American society.

OW: Regarding Zhou Long’s “Men of Iron and the Golden Spike,” how would you describe this work and its musical language? What kind of experience will audiences have when encountering it?

JC: Zhou Long’s “Men of Iron and the Golden Spike” is a powerful symphonic oratorio written for a large orchestra, six soloists, and a large chorus. What makes the work especially compelling to me is the way Zhou combines the traditions of Western symphonic and choral writing with elements of Chinese musical language.

Two of the major musical themes in the oratorio are drawn from the Chinese traditions of the region where many of the railroad workers came from. One is based on a coolie work song, reflecting the physical labor and hardship of the workers, while the other is a Chinese lullaby, bringing a much more personal and human emotion to the story.

These contrasting themes—one connected to labor and struggle, the other to home, family, and memory—help give the work a strong emotional connection to the Chinese workers and their experience in America.  Zhou Long also uses two Chinese instrument to place these Chinese elements within the large-scale tradition of the Western symphony orchestra, creating a musical language that reflects the meeting of Chinese and American history and culture.

For the audience, I hope the experience is both musical and emotional. You will hear a major American historical story from a Chinese perspective, but this is not simply a work about history. At its heart, it is about human courage, sacrifice, perseverance, and the pursuit of a dream.

As a conductor, I am particularly interested in bringing out the contrast between the monumental scale of the work and the individual human voices within it. I want the audience to feel the sound of a large orchestra and chorus, but also hear the individual voices and feel the people behind the history.

OW: The program is centered on celebrating the USA’s 250th anniversary? How do you feel that the two performances celebrate this momentous occasion?

JC: Through the China Now Music Festival, we looks at America’s 250-year history through the connections between China and the United States—how Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans have contributed to and helped shape the American story.

Zhou Long’s “Men of Iron and the Golden Spike” tells one of the earliest chapters of this history. It is not simply about the hardship of building the Transcontinental Railroad. Tens of thousands of Chinese workers came to America, faced enormous challenges and discrimination, and contributed their labor, skills, and perseverance to a project that transformed the nation.

Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s “The Rift” brings us to a very different chapter through the story of Maya Lin, an American artist born to Chinese immigrant parents. Her creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial raises questions about art, memory, immigration, identity, and what it means to be American.

For me, these two works show that the Chinese-American story is not separate from American history—it is an important part of it. As we celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, I hope audiences will discover these stories and connect with the courage, sacrifice, perseverance, and pursuit of dreams that they represent.

OW: On a personal level, what inspired you to engage in a career in classical music? 

JC: My career in classical music, especially in as a conductor, began with a deep love of music and a curiosity about what music could communicate with people, musicians and audience alike. Growing up in China, I was surrounded by Chinese musical traditions, but I was also drawn to Western classical music when I was young.  One of the most important influences in my life was studying with Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood. His example taught me that a conductor is not simply someone who leads an orchestra. A conductor should be a leader, an educator, an advocate for composers, and someone who uses music to connect people. His belief in the power of music to communicate with people has stayed with me throughout my career.

My experiences in both China and the United States have also shaped me profoundly. I have had the privilege of conducting, teaching, and performing in both countries, and these experiences have convinced me that music can create meaningful connections even when cultures and languages are different. Much of my work has therefore focused on bringing Chinese and Asian music to American audiences and, at the same time, introducing American musical ideas and contemporary music to audiences in China.

OW:Who are some of your inspirations? 

JC: I am particularly inspired by composers who are creating new musical languages for our time—especially Asian and Chinese composers who are finding ways to bring their cultural experiences into contemporary classical music without simply imitating either East or West. I believe classical music should always reflect people’s life today and the music of our time should reflect the complexity of the world we live in.

OW: What are some of your artistic dreams?

JC: My artistic dream is to continue building bridges through music: to conduct more great contemporary works, to give Asian and Chinese composers a stronger presence on the international stage, and to create opportunities for young musicians from China, the United States, and other parts of the world to work together. Ultimately, I hope my career can contribute to a musical world in which Chinese and Asian music is not considered a separate category, but an essential and natural part of the contemporary classical repertoire.