Forget the usual overseas concert tours, when the Philadelphia Orchestra arrives like some grand ocean liner with all routes planned years in advance. The orchestra’s May 28-June 6 residency and tour of China, details of which were to be announced Wednesday in Beijing and Philadelphia, was hatched in a matter of months — five full orchestral concerts in four cities, master classes, chamber concerts, many other ancillary events, plus plans stretching five years into the future. “Announcing in the fall and going in May — that’s quick time,” said orchestra president Allison Vulgamore. “It’s an unstoppable energy.”
