Sheila Melvin and Jindong Cai, co-authors of "Rhapsody in Red: How Western Classical Music Became Chinese?", will talk about the Western and Chinese heroes who made a Chinese art form out of classical music. Many of the world's top classical musicians are ethnic Chinese, and Beijing is becoming a major center of classical music performance, yet very few people understand how Western classical music developed in China. This talk will focus on influential figures in this development, including Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci, Italian conductor Mario Paci, and Chinese musicians such as Xian Xinghai, Li Delun and Tan Dun.



Some CDs of music including those pieces made during the Cultural Revolution will be played for appreciation. And the book will be available for purchase.



Mr. Cai, a Beijing native, is a conductor and a professor of music at Stanford University. Ms. Melvin,a former Beijing resident, writes about music and the arts in China for a number of publications.