We are ready to receive you, the official, Pak Gil Yon, told the players, who responded with mild applause. I sincerely wish you a good performance and pleasant stay in Pyongyang. Mr. Pak then proceeded to the hall s entrance tier for a sometimes strained news conference with Philharmonic officials to announce formally the orchestra s trip to North Korea. But before addressing the news media, Mr.

Pak, the permanent representative of his country to the United Nations , met briefly with orchestra officials and their public relations advisers. They agreed to avoid discussing North Korea s nuclear program, a major concern of the United States. Otherwise the atmosphere will be politicized, Mr. Pak told them. North Korea invited the Philharmonic to play in Pyongyang, the capital, and the orchestra has accepted. It will spend 48 hours there, performing on Feb. 26 after a tour in China.

The State Department has fully backed the trip and has provided advice and planning. Ambassador Christopher R. Hill, the Bush administration s main negotiator in the six-party nuclear talks with North Korea and the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, was supposed to attend the news conference, but orchestra officials said business in Washington forced him to cancel on Monday night.

At the news conference the orchestra s president, Zarin Mehta , announced the program: It will include the North Korean and American national anthems, Gershwin s American in Paris and, as previously hinted, Dvorak s Symphony No. 9 ( From the New World ), which was given its world premiere by the orchestra in 1893. Lorin Maazel , the music director, may lead the North Korean national orchestra in a rehearsal, Mr. Mehta said.