Renowned Chinese conductor Han Zhongjie dies at age 97

As a conductor of Western classical music, Han was later denounced during the Cultural Revolution, the newspaper said, but was then reassigned to revolutionary ballet productions spearheaded by Chairman Mao's wife Jiang Qing as a way of building socialist fervour.
After visiting communist allies from Yugoslavia to North Korea, in 1980 he travelled to the United States to conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra following China’s reopening two years prior.
Other highlights of his career included conducting Hong Kong's Central Philharmonic and teaching a new generation of conductors in China, the newspaper also said.
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