Wu Man was asked to read the Citation for Kronos Quartet at the Polar Music Prize 2011 and shares her experience of the ceremony and festivities.
Trip of a lifetime!
by Wu Man
On August 30, 2011, I was honored to be asked to read the Citation for my fellow musicians and dear friends, the Kronos Quartet, at The Polar Music Prize Ceremony in Stockholm, which was attended by his majesty King Carl XVI, her majesty the Queen, and her royal highness, the crowned Princess and the Prince of Sweden.
The trip was arranged by the Polar Music Prize Foundation, who had paid the utmost attention to every detail organizing the event. I received an extremely detailed itinerary from the Polar Music Prize a month earlier with personalized instructions on the protocol for meeting the royal family and an itinerary for the ceremony.
It was to be a whirlwind three-day trip, beginning with a Business class flight, paid for by the foundation. The flight was 13 hours from California to Stockholm which was very comfortable although lengthy. When I arrived in Stockholm in the early evening, I stepped out of the aircraft and saw two people holding a sign with my name on it and smiling at me right at the aircraft door, where the baby carriages usually are. Without even going through the sky-bridge, I was asked to take the staff door and invited into a limo which was waiting for me at the runway directly next to the airplane –unbelievable! I have only seen this in Hollywood movies for national dignitaries and VIPs. All of the other passengers must have been thinking, “Who is this Asian lady?” I was driven to a building and one of the men said “Please give me your passport, and I will be right back”. He went for 2 minutes and came back with my passport and the customs stamp. We got out the Stockholm airport from a private gate. On the way to the hotel, I couldn’t believe what had just happened, and thought “It is really nice to be a VIP!”
All the guests being honored stayed in the Grand Hotel, a famous historical hotel with 130 years of history and a landmark of Stockholm with lavishly decorated rooms.
The ceremony was held at the Stockholm Concert Hall. Local music groups, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Stenhammer Quartet, the Polar Music Prize Band, plus singers were performing for the evening’s ceremony. The ceremony started at 5pm (on time) and was broadcast live on TV throughout the nation. At 4:30pm, the red carpet walk started. I walked with laureates Patti Smith and the Kronos Quartet (I walked behind them with the managers and other honored guests) while a live band played traditional music to accompany us. This made a very nice change… it is usually me playing the music for other people! Walking on the red caret, I felt like a star even though the prize was not given to me. While we were in the green room waiting to enter the hall, a person from the organization said, “Please come and drink with the King, Queen and Princess.” Holy cow! I got to greet the Sweden Royal family even before the ceremony started! That was a huge surprise too.
I sat in the front row with the Kronos Quartet on the left, and the famous Swedish writer of some 40 detective novels, Mr. Henning Mankell, on the other side of me. He was reading the Citation for Patti Smith. The ceremony began at 5pm sharp, around 5:40, my time had come. I waited backstage and was ready for the evening’s host to call my name. After I heard, “Now please welcome the Chinese pipa virtuoso Ms. Wu Man”, I slowly walked to the center of the stage accompanied by music played by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. I felt like a movie star at the Oscar ceremony! In front of the Swedish Royal family and thousands of guests and viewers, I read the citation and my personal words to congratulate the Kronos Quartet. The words came out of my mouth just like what I practiced and better. After the ceremony, many guests came to me to compliment my speech. The Kronos Quartet was extremely happy about my ‘performance’ as well. I didn’t know I had this talent until that night!
After an hour-long award ceremony, we all moved to the Grand Hotel for the banquet. I sat at table # 1. His majesty the King was two people away from me! The King’s table included two members of Kronos, Patti Smith, the Mayor of Stockholm, daughter of Sitg Anderson, wife of the chairman of the board. I had a nice conversation with The King Carl XVI. He was very interested in knowing what the pipa is, and how I can survive and become successful in America as a musician and traditional Chinese instrumentalist. I tried to explain to him what I have been doing in last 20 years, hopefully he understood. I wish I had brought the pipa with me. It would have been so much fun to play for this event and have had the chance to introduce pipa to guests. The food was mostly Swedish traditional cuisine with many type of cheeses and meats. Lots of drinks as well (you bet!). Every time before they would drink, someone would sing a folk song. King Carl XVI looked as though he was having a wonderful time and he is a very nice gentleman! It is a pity that I did not get an opportunity to take a photograph with the royal family. Maybe next time when I perform for them!
The banquet ended around midnight. All the guests have to wait until the Royal family leaves before they can leave. This was explained in the notes I received on the proper protocol. I had also been told that during the dinner you can’t get up and walk around to say hello to friends, or go to bathroom etc. So before the banquet start, people all lined up at the bathroom! After the banquet there was another later night party until 3am in the Opera house. I crashed after the banquet. It had been a long day! Kronos had a fantastic time at the ceremony. They have worked so hard to get to the top. I am so proud of them and so honored to have been able to played a small role in their recognition.
Next morning, the Polar Music Prize arranged a limo to pick me up to take me to the airport. Again, the car took me through the private gate at the Stockholm airport to a private VIP building. I waited at a private VIP lounge room just by myself. I was alone and it was very quiet! When it was close to boarding time, the guy came back with my boarding passes. The limo took me directly to the aircraft, I was the first passenger who got on the airplane from the side gate staffing door. It was the first time in my life that I did not need to go through the security, immigration, and even did not wait at the gate.
I am home now and I feel like it was all a dream! People had told me that the Polar Music Prize is like a Nobel Prize for music. They certainly know how to treat talent! I would love to go back to Sweden and have the opportunity to perform there. I will always treasure the memory of this experience.
