About Alison M. Friedman, founder of Ping Pong Productions, a US- and Beijing-registered cultural exchange organization with the mission of cultural diplomacy

pingpongarts.org; original entry contains links to articles cited below; videos; and additional illustrations; on cultural diplomacy, see also.

Alison M. Friedman is the founder of Ping Pong Productions, a US- and Beijing-registered cultural exchange organization with the mission of cultural diplomacy.

Friedman image from entry

While serving as the founding director of PPP from 2010-2017, Ms. Friedman worked closely with Chinese and international governments, non-profit and private organizations, using the performing arts to foster mutual understanding and engagement. Her productions have toured more than 50 countries on five continents, including at Lincoln Center, Sydney Opera House, Sadler’s Wells, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, China’s National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA), and others.

Ms. Friedman regularly gives keynotes in both English and Mandarin Chinese about China’s emerging performing arts market, and has been cited as an expert on China’s arts industry by such media as The New York Times, and China Daily.

She was a 2002-03 Fulbright scholar to China, a 2009-10 arts management fellow at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and a 2014-16 fellow in the National Committee on US-China Relations Public Intellectuals Program. She serves on the board of the International Society of the Performing Arts (ISPA).

Ms. Friedman has worked in China for nearly 17 years. She served as international director of the Beijing Modern Dance Company, helped establish the Shanghai office of Grammy/Oscar-winning composer Tan Dun, and as a producer and host on Chinese national radio and television programs.

Connect with Alison on:

Linkedin

Book Alison to Speak

Publications

• "Mapping China: Performing Arts," Dutch Culture Centre for International Cooperation
• "Is Capitalism Harming the Arts in China?," International Arts Manager
• BOOK: Across Borders

Podcasts

• China Businesscast: Running a Chinese and Overseas Art Production Company with Alison Friedman
• Sinica Podcast: Alison Friedman on China and the Arts
• China File: Leonard Bernstein and China

Articles

• The New York Times: A Most Rare Vision: Shakespeare in China
• Paulson Institute: Alison Friedman Talks Performing Arts in China
• Asia Pacific Arts: US Artistic Ambassador to China: Ping Pong Productions' Alison Friedman
• Sino-US: Alison Friedman and Ping Pong Productions: Linking China and the world through arts