The Philadelphia Orchestra Yannick Nézet-Séguin Music Director

Secret Fan. Dressing for the Wedding. Longing for her Sister. Grandmother’s Echo.

These are some of the intriguing titles of the films in Chinese composer Tan Dun’s Nu Shu: The Secret Songs of Women, Symphony for Microfilms, Harp, and Orchestra. The Philadelphia Orchestra and Principal Harp Elizabeth Hainen give the U.S. premiere of the multi-media composition this week. “They’re very powerful. Very emotional,” says Hainen of the films, which each depict a rite of passage. “And just beautiful. Beautiful events. Tan Dun has managed to capture the essence of this time and this place through this music and through this footage.” She adds, “He’s a wonderful, wonderful composer. There’s never been anything like it, I can tell you that.”

When Philadelphia Orchestra cellist Ohad Bar-David and his Intercultural Journeys present “East Meets West” at the Ethical Society on Rittenhouse Square on Friday, November 8, at 7 PM, it will be one of many musical journeys on which Orchestra musicians take listeners as they traverse the city and beyond in various settings.

At the end of this month, three principals of The Philadelphia Orchestra will give premieres of concertos written specifically for them. With the clock ticking, what does a musician do? “I’ve been practicing it furiously!” says Principal Flute Jeffrey Khaner, who will give the world premiere of Behzad Ranjbaran’s Flute Concerto in less than two weeks. “Technically it’s a very challenging piece.

A fierce, paralyzing snowstorm blanketed the East Coast between February 8 and 10, 1969. It left approximately 6,000 travelers stranded at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.  More than 90 deaths were attributed to the storm.

Stuck in Montreal was Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, scheduled to make his conducting debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra on Friday afternoon, February 14.