The Song and Dance of Tears. Bright Sheng

Andrew Clark in the Financial Times describes the east/west fusion of "The Song and Dance of Tears." Then, he comments on nationalism:

It would be foolish to draw conclusions from this swathe of new music in New York, other than that American orchestras, arts patrons and audiences are dazzled by the Chinese-American phenomenon, and that its exponents have started, like Reich and Glass, to repeat themselves. When all is said and done, nationality should not influence our judgment. There is good music, and there is mediocre and bad music: these are the only distinctions that count.

But in the overload of possible music to listen to and focus on, using a nationalism "filter" before making distinctions between good and bad, is useful.