The music students at Tremont Grammar School listened last week as Xiao-Lu Li, conductor of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, talked about music, orchestras and instruments. He stayed at the school for the day, telling stories, guiding bow exercises and, at one point, giving his baton to the teacher, and sitting alongside the players in the small school orchestra. Eventually, Li opened the floor to questions, and the children were quick to ask: Will you take us to China?

When Maestro Li, still in his first season with the BSO, recounts that story, he raises an eyebrow with entrepreneurial promise. With his appointment in January as chief conductor to the China National Symphony Orchestra, Li knows that, someday, it may not be such a big leap for schoolchildren in Maine to make connections in China.

But for the moment, he is happy if he can get his young friends to make connections with the BSO. By anyone’s measure, Li accomplished this in Tremont.

“We played for him. He played for us. It was wonderful,” said Wanda Whitener, music teacher at Tremont. “He shared a wonderful philosophy of life, and the students had an incredible experience. They went away feeling enthusiastic, and all of their violins went home for practice. They can’t wait to go to the concert and see him again.”

The BSO classical concert will take place 3 p.m. Sunday, March 9, at the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono, and, to hear Li talk about it, it’s as much about getting those children in the concert hall as it is about getting knowledgeable music listeners there, too. On March 10, he will also conduct three youth concerts at MCA.

When Li accepted the position in Bangor, he spoke passionately about expanding contact with young people. It’s not his only ambition for his northeastern workplace, however. Even the sunny new BSO administrative offices on Main Street downtown seem to underscore Li’s civic enthusiasm and economic vision. He sees the orchestra as having an organic place in the community, as a cultural institution, yes, but also as a business. His theory is that when people go to concerts, they may also buy new clothes for the event, or go out to dinner, or purchase CDs from the local music store.

“It’s like blood circulation. A healthy person circulates well. A healthy community circulates well,” said Li, who has an import business in addition to music director posts in Bangor, China and the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra in New London. “Some cities have orchestra budgets of $30 million and they continue to grow successfully because so much of that money goes back to the community.”

It’s not that different from the benefits Li says Bangor might reap as a result of his new appointment in China. He doesn’t specify what the possibilities are, but he knows that the higher profile for him will bring a higher profile to Bangor, too.

Anyone worried about his ability to bounce among three orchestras need only take a peek at Li’s calendar to realize that his commitment is, literally, round the clock. When he was in Bangor last week, he had not been home in Lafayette, La., to see his wife and two daughters, ages 11 and 17, for four weeks. His schedule had him rehearsing for the weekend with the BSO, then driving to Connecticut to rehearse for the week there, then returning to Bangor for a Friday night rehearsal (and to pick up his wife, Yang-Yang, at the airport to play violin with the BSO), then driving back to Connecticut for a Saturday rehearsal, and back to Bangor for the Sunday concert.

It’s an understatement when Li says: “I’m a workaholic.”

The busy schedule, which includes a total of 12 weeks in Beijing in the spring and summer, will not detract from his commitment to Bangor, he assures. But he is quick to add that patience is the most important quality for a community, that strong cultural institutions, strong orchestras are not built quickly. He offers another simile: “A symphony orchestra and a conductor are like a marriage. It takes patience, understanding, kindness and not making a judgment too soon. That way, the marriage can go in the right direction.”

The Bangor Symphony Orchestra will perform 3 p.m. March 9 at the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono. For information and tickets, call 942-5555.