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The year 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the victories of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and World Anti-Fascist War. The NCPA national opera commission, The Red Sorghum, will have its premiere to carry forward the fine traditions of heroism and patriotism. Based on Red Sorghum Clan, a full-length novel by MO Yan, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, the opera, set during the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in Gaomi Town, Shandong Province, tells a legendary story about DAI Fenglian, YU Zhan’ao and other villagers. It depicts how the common people agonise over human nature in the old society and how they awaken with determination to fight when the nation is in peril. Since its publication, the novel has been adapted into multiple forms of art, such as film, TV drama, dance drama and Peking Opera, which are highly popular with the public.
Produced by a top-class creative team, the NCPA version will soon present this classic on the opera stage for the first time. Written personally by MO Yan, the original author, the libretto features impressive opera characters. During the creative process, GUO Wenjing, a famous composer, fully utilised the regional style and national character of the opera, composing it if it were a grand opera, thereby making the musical language both symphonic and dramatic. Directed by WANG Xiaodi, the opera will have its premiere under the baton of LÜ Jia, Music and Artistic Director of the NCPA. He will work with the creative team, including the set designer JI Qiao, costume designer CHEN Tongxun, lighting designer XING Xin and video projection designer HU Tianji, to tell this touching story set in the sorghum field to write an endless epic about the people.
Composer: GUO Wenjing
Librettist: MO Yan
Adapted from MO Yan’s novel
Red Sorghum Clan
Conductor: LÜ Jia
Stage Director: WANG Xiaodi
Set Designer: JI Qiao
Costume & Hair Style Designer: CHEN Tongxun
Lighting Designer: XING Xin
Video Projection Designer: HU Tianij
Prop Designer: WANG Weijun
Chorus Master: JIAO Miao
Cast
Jiu’er: SONG Yuanming / WU Liere
YU Zhan’ao: GUO Zizhao / WANG Chong●
LIU Luohan: WANG Hexiang● / ZHANG Yang●
Fengxian: ZHAO Lili / ZHANG Wenqin● / GUO Chen
DAI Laosan: LI Ao
Staff Officer REN: ZHU He
SHAN Bianlang: LIANG Yufeng▲ / XIE Xinyu
●NCPA Resident Singer
▲China NCPA Chorus
Scene I
Jiu’er is forced by her father, DAI Laosan, who is greedy for money, to marry the owner of the SHAN’s Winery, who suffers from tuberculosis. On the wedding day, her lover, YU Zhan’ao, comes to carry the bridal sedan chair. On the way to the groom’s home, Jiu’er is harassed by a Japanese sergeant named Kameo. YU Zhan’ao steps forward bravely and kills Kameo. At this juncture, Staff Officer REN and the guerrilla fighters turn up and run into YU Zhan’ao. They disarm the puppet troops and take the long-barrel guns away. Jiu’er is rescued, but she is still compelled to return into the sedan chair and carried to the groom’s home.
Scene II
On the wedding night, SHAN Bianlang intentionally tried to match up LIU Luohan with his daughter-in-law Fengxian, but LIU Luohan, who has a deep love for Jiu’er, refuses to accept Fengxian. To cut off LIU Luohan’s attachment to Jiu’er, Fengxian puts knockout drops in the liquor for YU Zhan’ao, in the hope of helping her father-in-law SHAN Bianlang to consummate his marriage. Failing to have YU Zhan’ao come to rescue her, Jiu’er picks a pair of scissors up to defend herself. Seeing Jiu’er risk her life to resist him, SHAN Bianlang finally relinquishes his attempt to consummate the marriage that night.
Scene III
Three days later, Jiu’er returns to her parental home with her father DAI Laosan. When they walk by the sorghum fields, YU Zhan’ao, who is just waiting in ambush there, intercepts Jiu’er. After pouring out their hearts in the sorghum fields, they pledge to marry each other.
Scene IV
At the Double Ninth Festival, new liquor is made in the SHAN’s winery, where workers talk about rumours that Jiu’er is pregnant and YU Zhan’ao has been kidnapped by bandits. The winery flourishes under Jiu’er’s management. At this moment, YU Zhan'ao suddenly returns to the winery and publicly admittes that he was not the one who killed SHAN Bianlang, and SHAN Bianlang has actually died of anger upon learning that Jiu'er and YU Zhan'ao has a private engagement. He then declares his intention to stay at the winery to help Jiu’er.
Scene V
Seeing the love between YU Zhan’ao and Jiu’er, LIU Luohan makes a resolve to leave. Upon hearing that Luohan is leaving, Fengxian shows her love for him. At the moment, Luohan receives a message that the Japanese army is storming the winery to capture YU Zhan’ao. So he returns to the winery to cover YU Zhan’ao and Jiu’er. Fengxian gets shot while saving LIU Luohan, who is ultimately captured.
Scene VI
On the execution ground, LIU Luohan, who would rather die than surrender, bitterly rebukes the Japanese invaders. Japanese soldiers force DAI Laosan to flay LIU Luohan alive. Encouraged by LIU Luohan, DAI Laosan, who is timid, kills LIU with a thrust of the knife, sparing him from suffering torments. Then DAI Laosan rushes to the Japanese officer with the knife, only to be shot dead by Japanese soldiers.
Scene VII
Three years later, YU Zhan’ao sets an ambush on the bridge near the sorghum fields, with “jars of liquor piled up” for an attack on the Japanese forces. Staff Officer REN reports the Japanese army’s movements and deploys troops for a battle. He encourages them to fight for the national dignity and their deceased loved ones. YU Zhan’ao makes a firm decision that he will join the Eighth Route Army after the battle.
Scene VIII
In the village, Jiu’er is leading other women in preparing meals for the guerrilla fighters, while YU Zhan’ao and Staff Officer REN are working with others to blow up the Japanese military vehicles. On their way delivering meals, Jiu’er and Mrs. WANG see Japanese soldiers launching a sneak attack from the rear, so Jiu’er shouts loudly in the sorghum fields to alert the guerrillas. As the Japanese soldiers close in, Jiu’er risks her life to throw a grenade at them. Failing in the sneak attack, the Japanese soldiers shoot Jiu’er dead.
GUO WenjingComposer
GUO Wenjing
GUO Wenjing is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Central Conservatory of Music and Head of the Composition Department. He has composed operas such as The Banquet, Diary of a Madman and Rickshaw Boy. His works have been performed at art festivals in Amsterdam, Paris, Glasgow, Berlin and Warsaw, winning him the honourary titles of “National Expert with Outstanding Contributions” and “China’s Top 100 Artists”.
Mo YanPlaywright
Mo Yan
Chinese contemporary famous writer. Honorary doctor of literature of the Open University of Hong Kong and visiting professor at Qingdao University of Science & Technology. In the 1980s, he came to fame with a series of sentimental works, classified as 'root-searching literature' writer. In 2011, he obtained Mao Dun Literature Awards; in 2012, he won the Nobel Prize for literature. His works are influenced by magic realism, and the stories happened in Dongbei Township, Gaomi, Shandong.
Fatigues of Life and Death and
Frog have rare religious feelings, making them go beyond the Chinese writers counterparts, and enter the ranks of the world literature.
Representative works: Red Sorghum, The Sandalwood Punishment, Big Breast and Wide Hips, Wine Country, Fatigues of Life and Death, and Frog.
LÜ JiaConductor
LÜ Jia
LÜ Jia is Artistic Director of Music of National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), and Music Director of China NCPA Orchestra, and former Music Director & Chief Conductor of the Macao Orchestra, prior to which he has acted as Music Director of the Verona Opera House, Italy, and Artistic Director of the Santa Cruz De Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, Spain.
LÜ Jia has conducted in as many as 2000 music concerts and operas in Europe and the United States. The world renowned opera houses and symphony orchestras he has cooperation with include: Teatro alla Scala, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Lyon National Orchestra, etc.
As the first Asian conductor assuming the director position in national opera house of Italy, he is proclaimed as "a conductor who has a deeper understanding of Italian operas than Italians" by the Italian music commentators. In 2007, he was awarded "The President Cup" by the Italian President for his exceptional contribution and outstanding achievements made in Italy, followed by the acclaim as the "Best Opera" of Europe for the La gazza ladra that he conducted in "Rossini Opera Festival" held at Rossini's hometown Pesaro.
WANG XiaodiStage Director
WANG Xiaodi
WANG Xiaodi is the director of the NCPA’s drama commission LIN Zexu.
WANG Xiaodi is Chairman and General Manager of the Guangzhou Dramatic Arts Centre. As a national first-class director, she has directed many genres of theatre including drama, children’s drama and local opera.
WANG Xiaodi has won prizes including the Wenhua Award, Wenhua Award for Best New Production, Wenhua Award for Best Director, China Golden Lion Award for Best Drama Director, etc.
Her representative works include dramas To the World, King of Nanyue, Runzhi in Spring Snow, The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, The Handan Dream, Under the Roofs of Shanghai, etc., Peking operas Beautiful Life and Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, Guangxi opera LIU Zongyuan, children’s dramas Baby and My Strait of Magellan, etc.
JI QiaoSet Designer
JI Qiao
JI Qiao graduated from the Department of Stage Design, Shanghai Theatre Academy. He is a National-level First-class Stage Designer, Vice President of China Institute of Stage Design and Honourary President of Guangdong Stage Art Research Association.
His main theatrical works include Green Balcony, Xiguan Women, Sunshine Zone, Husband, The Thirteen-hong Merchants of Canton, Sound of Nature, Mizhi Women and Suide Men, MAO Zedong and MAO Anying in Spring Snow, SU Wu of the Great Han Dynasty, My Strait of Magellan, The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, Dwelling in Fuchun Mountains, The Handan Dream, Journey to Southern Region·Mr. Zhou, etc.
His main evening party works include Closing Ceremony themed with “Oriental Charm” for the 15th Asian Games Guangzhou, large-scale performance themed with “Beyond Dreams” for the 9th National Games of the PRC, Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 9th China Art Festival, large-scale epic performance entitled “Dragon and Phoenix Dance in China”, Opening Ceremony of the 4th China Peking Opera Art Festival, Opening Ceremony of Celebration Gala for the 100th Anniversary of the Chinese Shaoxing Opera.
JI Qiao won the 2004-2007 National Drama Culture Award (Golden Lion Award for Drama), the 2011 Modern Drama Contribution Award of Chinese Traditional Opera, Wenhua Stage Design Award, Outstanding Stage Design Award of Ministry of Culture, the Chinese Top-notch Drama Repertoire Award, Award of China Institute of Stage Design, Award of “Five-One Project” launched by Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, Stage Design Award of China Drama Festival, etc.
CHEN TongxunCostume Designer
CHEN Tongxun
CHEN Tongxun is a graduate of the Department of Stage Art, Shanghai Theatre Academy. He has served as costume designer for films, TV dramas, operas, dramas, live-action performances, etc.
CHEN was listed among “China’s Top 10 TV Producers and Top 10 TV Creators” at the 11th and 12th Commendation Conference in 2017 and 2019; he won Best Modelling Design Award at the 12th Asian Film Awards in 2018 and Best Modelling Design Award (Nomination) at the 55th Golden Horse Awards for the film Legend of the Demon Cat. He won a Magnolia Award for the Best Art Direction at the 24th Shanghai Television Festival for The Advisors Alliance. He won Best Costume Design Award (Nomination) at the 34th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2015 and Best Modelling Direction Award at the 4th Hamilton Behind The Camera Awards. In 2021, he won an Academy Award for Best Makeup by the China Cinematography Committee. In 2011, he won the title of “Outstanding Contributor” at the Vicennial Grand Gathering of Chinese TV Elites. In 2009, he won Best Modelling Design Award (Nomination) at the 49th Golden Horse Awards for MEI Lanfang.
His representative works include NCPA opera commissions FANG Zhimin and LAN Huahua; the Opera Troupe of the General Political Department of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army QU Yuan; the Valencia Opera House Turandot; the Liaoning Opera House Zan Yuen; NCPA drama LIN Zexu, as well as film and TV works Empresses in the Palace, The Untamed, Joy of Life, The Sword and the Brocade, Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace, Cliff, The QIN Empire, QIAO’s Grand Courtyard, White Deer Plain, The Advisors Alliance, Deification, The Myth, etc.
XING XinLighting Designer
XING Xin
XING Xin has served as the lighting designer for the NCPA operas Xishi, A Village Teacher, FANG Zhimin, The Song of Youth, Minning Town and The Wild Rhododendron, dramas Jane Eyre, Wangfujing, Returning Home on a Snowy Night, LIN Zexu, The Crossroad and The Count of Monte Cristo, musical drama The Beautiful Blue Danube, and Peking opera You and Me.
XING Xin is a first-class lighting designer at the National Theatre of China and an outstanding expert named by the Ministry of Culture, enjoying special government allowances from the State Council. He makes lighting designs for a wide variety of works. His recent representative works include drama LIN Zexu, opera Gray Prairie, musical Myth of Love, dance drama Crested Ibises, Sichuan opera Ripple on Stagnant Water, Huangmei opera Huizhou Women, Huanan Huagu opera Waiting for Him in December, Peking opera Rickshaw Boy, Kunqu opera A Dream of Red Mansions, Shaanxi opera A New Family in the Courtyard Complex, and Yong opera The Pawned Wife.
XING Xin won the 9th-14th Wenhua Award for Stage Design. He has won many other national awards, including prizes at the China Art Festival, the Chinese Opera Society Award, the China Institute of Stage Design Award, the China Golden Lion Award for Drama, etc.
HU TianjiVideo Projection Designer
HU Tianji
HU Tianji graduated from the Mural Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2001. He went to France for advanced studies in 2003, and graduated from the School of Animation of L’Institut Supérieur des Arts Appliqués (LISSA) in 2006 with a degree in film and TV animation design. After returning to China in 2017, he founded the Lunar January Image Studio, which specialises in post-production video effect design and multimedia interaction design.
Many of his works have won the Golden Lotus Award and Wenhua Award or have been selected for the “100 Works for 100 Years” Traditional Masterpiece Revival Programme. In 2010, HU Tianji served as the video projection designer for Goddess of the Luo River, a large-scale dance drama by the Zhengzhou Song and Dance Theatre, winning the Golden Lotus Award. In 2011, he served as the video projection designer for the China National Opera and Dance Drama Theatre’s opera Red River Alley, winning the Wenhua Award. In 2013, he served as the video projection designer for SU Wu of the Han Dynasty, a large-scale opera by the Shaanxi Song and Dance Theatre, winning the Wenhua Award. In 2014, he served as the video projection designer for Canal of Destiny, a large-scale opera by the Nanjing Performing Arts Group, winning the Wenhua Award. In 2013, he served as the video projection designer for The Long March, a large-scale opera by the NCPA, winning the Beijing Municipal Literary and Art Prize, with the work selected for the “100 Works for 100 Years” Traditional Masterpiece Revival Programme. In 2017, he served as the video projection designer for the China National Opera House Manas, which was selected for the “100 Works for 100 Years” Traditional Masterpiece Revival Programme. In 2018, he served as the video projection designer for the Ningxia Opera and Dance Drama Theatre musical Hua’er and Bugler, which was selected for the “100 Works for 100 Years” Traditional Masterpiece Revival Programme and National Project to the Distillation of the Stage Art. In 2019, he served as the video projection designer for the Jilin Song and Dance Theatre Red Flag, winning the Golden Lotus Award, with the work selected for the “100 Works for 100 Years” Traditional Masterpiece Revival Programme. In 2020, he served as the video projection designer for On the Road to Alleviating Poverty, a song and dance drama presented by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which was selected for the “100 Works for 100 Years” Traditional Masterpiece Revival Programme. In 2021, he served as the video projection designer for the Tianjin Pingju Theatre Ping opera The Revolutionary Family, which was selected for the “100 Works for 100 Years” Traditional Masterpiece Revival Programme.
WANG WeijunProps Designer
WANG Weijun
WANG Weijun is a staff member of the NCPA, holding a degree in arts management from the Central Conservatory of Music. He has designed stage props for more than 80 theatrical works produced by the NCPA, including operas, dramas, dance dramas and musicals.
WANG Weijun has designed stage props for the NCPA productions including LIN Zexu, A Village Teacher (New Version), Tosca, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Effendi & His Double, etc. He works as the props coordinator in the operas Der Ring Des Nibelungen: Das Rheingold and Roméo et Juliette, dramas The Crossroad and Returning Home on a Snowy Night, etc. His representative works include A Millennium Promise, a theatrical performance held at the “Belt and Road” Forum for International Cooperation, I Grow Up with My Motherland—For the International Children’s Day of 2019, and self-produced plays Turandot, Der Fliegende Holländer, Snow White, You and Me, The Long March, Minning Town, The Wild Rhododendron, etc.
JIAO MiaoChorus Master
JIAO Miao
JIAO Miao is a resident conductor of the China NCPA orchestra and a conductor of the China NCPA Youth Ensemble Orchestra. She studied under famous Chinese conductor Professor WU Lingfen at the Conducting Department of the China Conservatory of Music, and also received guidance from Mr. YAN Liangkun, a well-known conductor. In 2014 and 2015, she made an exchange visit to the USC Thornton School of Music and Los Angeles Opera on invitation.
As a resident conductor, JIAO Miao participates in making a schedule for more than 100 performances to be given throughout the year by the China NCPA Chorus. She serves as the chorus master in Chinese and foreign operas produced by the NCPA, including Xishi, Carmen, La Traviata, Turandot, Tosca, The Chinese Orphan, The Red Guards on Honghu Lake, A Village Teacher, Il barbiere di Siviglia, The Dawns Here Are Quiet, Visitors on the Snow Mountain, Rickshaw Boy, etc. She has planned and conducted a series of distinctively themed concerts, such as Listening to Golden Years, Wonderful Harmony, Love in Autumn, etc. JIAO Miao has served as a chorus master at lots of concerts given by famous conductors - she organised choral rehearsals for Verdi’s Requiem, presented by the NCPA in cooperation with Chung Myung-Whun, receiving high recognition and praise from the maestro; organised choral rehearsals for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D Minor in a performance co-given by the NCPA and Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. In addition, JIAO Miao has accumulated rich experience in interpreting art choruses - she conducted the China NCPA Chorus in singing composer GUO Wenjing’s a cappella Echoes of Heaven and Earth, which was published on CD; conducted Jiangchengzi, a choral work composed by Mr. Qigang Chen. In recent years, JIAO Miao has served as a chorus master in a series of important performances including Enduring Memories of Hangzhou at the Opening Ceremony of the G20 Summit, A Millennium Promise at the “Belt and Road” Forum for International Cooperation, etc.
Meanwhile, JIAO Miao has planned and involved herself in 100 public-spirited performances given in a series of art popularisation and education activities organised by the NCPA; hosted lots of choral art salons rich in content and various in form, which are much liked by art lovers.
SONG Yuanmingas Jiu’er
SONG Yuanming
SONG Yuanming, a soprano residing in Austria, is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Voice & Opera Department of the Central Conservatory of Music. She holds an excellent dual master’s degree in “opera & operetta” and “art song & oratorio” from the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, where she studied under Prof. Franz Lukasovsky, and the highest degree in acting from the Voice & Opera Department, one for an “outstanding artist” with a master’s degree or above only. She also holds a master’s degree in flute performance, which she obtained when graduating with distinction from the Prayner Konservatorium für Musik und Dramatische Kunst Wien.
SONG Yuanming has won awards in six international competitions including the First Place in the 48th International Singing Competition of Toulouse, France, the “Best Soprano” Award in the 13th Internationaler Gesangswettbewerb Ferruccio Tagliavini, Austria, the “Best Singer” Award in the 44th Czech Republic “Dvorak” International Vocal Competition, etc. She has given performances on top stages including the Salzburg International Art Festival, Schönbrunn Schlosstheater, Musikverein Glass Hall, Graz Opera, Seoul Arts Center, Karlovy Vary Opera, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Buenos Aires Theatre, Opera Santiago Chile, NCPA, etc., and reached impressive cooperation with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim, Gergiev, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and other famous conductors. On the opera stage, SONG Yuanming has starred in Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Fledermaus, Turandot, La Bohème, Rickshaw Boy, Sunrise, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Don Pasquale, Die Lustige Witwe, L’elisir d’amore, The Song of Youth and other operas. In 2024, she appeared in a full-length Wagnerian opera for the first time - by portraying the heroine Senta in the NCPA Der Fliegende Holländer. Music Weekly praised her performance in which “she sang clearly in German with her sweet, high-pitched voice and, looking nice on the stage, her portrayal of Senta in blue was really something eye-catching that night”. In September 2024, SONG Yuanming was invited to give a concert of art songs at the Schoenberg Arts Centre, Vienna.
SONG Yuanming appeared as a soloist when the Philadelphia Orchestra played Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 “Choral” under Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s baton, with the live performance recorded and published by DG. In 2021, her debut solo album, Selected Art Songs of Richard Strauss, was published by NAXOS. In 2022, another album of hers, Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn, was released. In June 2024, her album, The Magic Wonderland Opens Before Our Gaze: Selected Austrian Art Songs Composed in the 19th and 20th Centuries, recorded in Vienna with Charles Spencer, an internationally renowned vocal art song director and pianist, was released by NAXOS as the second solo album of hers to be published by NAXOS after 2021. According to the Vienna Culture Media, “SONG Yuanming is undoubtedly a great lyric soprano. Highly flexible, her voice is pure, absorbing, graceful and powerful, even with her voice perfectly muted in the high-pitched area.”
WU Liereas Jiu’er
WU Liere
WU Liere, a Mongolian soprano, is currently a postgraduate student at the Vocal & Opera Department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, studying under Prof. HUANG Ying, a renowned lyric coloratura soprano and opera singer at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and Associate Professor ZHU He, an art director. She gives a dramatically expressive performance with an easy grace in her bright, pure and lyric voice.
WU Liere won the First Prize in the Fourth Chinese Art Song International Singing Competition (this prize was vacant in the previous competition), the First Prize in the Second Shangyin Opera House & Gulangyu Opera Competition, the Best Stage Performance Award in the First Shangyin Opera House & Gulangyu Opera Competition, and the Excellence Award in the 14th “Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music” Shanghai Division.
WU Liere played Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, a co-production of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Teatro Sociale di Como, acted in the national opera Kangding Love Song, appeared at the China Opera Festival and gave a performance at the NCPA. In 2024, she appeared as a soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 - IV. under Markus Stenz’s baton. In 2025, she portrayed Liu in the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi di Milano’s fourth version of Turandot.
WU Liere was invited to the Savonlinna Opera Festival, Finland in 2023 and 2024. She also appeared at the China-EU Concert of Art Songs and Masterclass. Taught by Hartmut Höll and other world-renowned masters, she has repeatedly won the first-class scholarship and title of “Merit Student” at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
GUO Zizhaoas YU Zhan’ao
GUO Zizhao
GUO Zizhao is a graduate of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi di Milano. He used to study under Prof. GE Yi, a famous tenor, and Katia Ricciarelli, a legendary soprano.
GUO Zizhao has given solo recitals at the Shanghai Concert Hall. He has portrayed about 30 operatic roles at the NCPA, Shanghai Grand Theatre and many European opera houses including the Teatro Massimo Bellini di Catania, Arena Di Verona, Teatro Verdi Trieste, Teatro di Pisa, Opéra national de Paris, Teatro Comunale di Bologna and Teatro Carlo Coccia di Novara - as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Luigi in Il Tabarro and Calaf in Turandot, Otello in Rossini’s Otello, Don José in Carmen, Erik in Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer, Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Alfredo in La Traviata, Conrad in Le Corsaire, Manrico in Il Trovatore and Ismaele in Nabucco, Turiddu in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, Andrea Chénier in Giordani’s Andrea Chénier and Canio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci.
In 2019, GUO Zizhao won the well-known European classical music prize DOSKY Award for “Most Accomplished Opera Singer of 2019”.
WANG Chongas YU Zhan’ao
WANG Chong
WANG Chong is a tenor and NCPA resident singer and one of the most active vocalists on the opera stage today. He has headed the bill in many of the NCPA classic operas and opera commissions, e.g., he starred as Gustav III in Un Ballo in Maschera in May 2024, as Radames in Aida in the 2023 season, as Cavaradossi in Tosca, as Rodolfo in La Bohème, as Manrico in Il Trovatore, as Commissar PENG in The Long March, as Xiangzi in Rickshaw Boy, as FANG Zhimin in FANG Zhimin, as Amir in Visitors on the Snow Mountain, etc. He sang the song Ode to Peace as a lead vocalist in A Millennium Promise, an evening party held at the “Belt and Road” International Cooperation Summit. In 2023, he received financial support for young creators from the China National Arts Fund.
WANG Chong received further education in the United States, where he signed on with the San Francisco Opera, one of the four class-A opera houses in the United States, joined the Adler Young Artist Programme, and played Erath in Troy, an epic opera staged to kick off the new season. That was how WANG Chong made his professional debut at a Class-A U.S. theatre. The maestro Donald Rangnicks paid an accolade to his performance. What’s more, the local media and music critics described his performance with the phrase “overwhelming applause”. Later, he portrayed Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor, played a part in Die Zauberflöte and Luisa Miller, and worked with famous American pianist Martin Katz in giving a concert. Mr. Nicola Luisotti, Music Director of the San Francisco Opera, praised him for his “Italian-style voice, one seeming to be young Pavarotti’s”.
WANG Hexiangas LIU Luohan
WANG Hexiang
WANG Hexiang is a resident baritone of the NCPA, holding a Bachelor’s Degree from the Department of Vocal Arts and Opera, Central Conservatory of Music. He used to study under Prof. ZHAO Dengying, a famous bass-baritone and doctoral and postgraduate tutor at the Department of Vocal Arts and Opera, Central Conservatory of Music.
WANG Hexiang has sung several times on CCTV Singing for a New Era and Journey of Music. He is well-known for his rendition of songs such as Wild Goose Flying South. He has starred in a number of works supported by the China National Arts Fund including Ode to the Lotus Flower, Ordinary World, Yelling in Humen, etc. With his sonorous voice, superb singing skills and wonderful interpretation of the characters, WANG Hexiang has won unanimous acclaim from the expert judges and the audience. In 2019 and 2020, he held solo concerts at the Fujian Grand Theatre, entitled, “Singing of Time” and “Night of Classic Melodies”, respectively. He served as the theatre director of GAOGAO WEINING, a large-scale song and dance drama commission staged at the just-ended Guizhou Excellent Realistic Drama Festival 2020.
WANG Hexiang has starred in numerous NCPA and non-NCPA operas, such as The Long March, Le Nozze di Figaro, Cinderella, Xishi, Pagliacci, Rigoletto, L’italiana in Algeri, Visitors on the Snow Mountain, The Ballad of Canal, Rickshaw Boy, L’elisir d’amore, La Traviata, Carmen, Die Lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow), Jinsha River, LAN Huahua, Yelling in Humen, The Daughter of the Party, Ordinary World, Snow White, Die Fledermaus, La Bohème, Red Flag like a Picture in Wind, GAOGAO WEINING, etc.
As a baritone active on the opera stage all year round, WANG Hexiang has cooperated with many famous conductors including LÜ Jia, YU Long, LI Xincao, ZHANG Guoyong, CHEN Zuohuang, Andrea Licata, etc., mezzo-soprano Victoria Venzin, and baritones Leo Nucci, Lado Ataneli, Warren Mok, Hui He, LIAO Changyong, etc.
ZHANG Yangas LIU Luohan
ZHANG Yang
ZHANG Yang is an opera singer and baritone at the NCPA. He stars in the NCPA operas Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, La Traviata, Aida, Tosca, Gianni Schicchi, Lucia di Lammermoor, Roméo et Juliette, Un Ballo in Maschera, Turandot, The Dawns Here Are Quiet, FANG Zhimin, etc.
ZHANG Yang holds a Master’s Degree, which he obtained with full marks from the Conservatorio Arrigo Boito di Parma in 2013. That same year, he received a dual degree in opera performance and art song singing. His teacher was Mirella Freni, a world-renowned soprano. ZHANG Yang has won the First Place in the “ANITA CERQUETTI” International Singing Competition, First Place in the Francesco Labo International Singing Competition, First Place and a full scholarship in Solti Masterclass, First Place and a full scholarship in the Mirella Freni International Singing Competition, and so on. He heads the bill in the NCPA opera commission The Dawns Here Are Quiet. At the invitation of the Mariinsky Theatre, he toured Russia, receiving widespread acclaim.
ZHANG Yang won the First Prize in the Anita Cerqueti International Vocal Competition and a full scholarship from the government of Modena, Italy. He has cooperated with conductors including LÜ Jia, ZHANG Guoyong, ZHANG Yi, Patrick Funier, Andrea Battistoni, Daniel Oren, Chung Myung-Whun and others.
ZHAO Lilias Fengxian
ZHAO Lili
ZHAO Lili is a soprano and associate professor of vocal music at the Department of Vocal Music, Music College, Shanghai Normal University, holding a Master’s Degree in vocal singing. She is a visiting scholar to the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia di Roma sent by the Ministry of Education of China, a member of the Non-Party Intellectuals Association, United Front Work Department of CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, and a member of the Vocal Music Committee, Shanghai Musician Association. ZHAO Lili is a young art creator funded by the China National Arts Fund. She studied under Prof. LANG Yinong, a postgraduate tutor at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music.
ZHAO Lili has portrayed many operatic roles in recent years. During her study at the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia di Roma, she was invited to the “Musica Riva Festival”, playing Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème. After returning to China, she has starred in numerous operas, such as Turandot, LAN Huahua, The Song of Youth, The Dawns Here Are Quiet, FANG Zhimin, Sandalwood Death, Snowy Plain, Gray Prairie, DENG Shichang, etc.
ZHAO Lili won the Austrian Music Festival Special Prize in the 12th Riccardo Zandonai International Singing Competition in Italy, the First Prize in the Chuncheon International Singing Competition, the Performance Award at the Second China Opera Festival, the Silver Award in the Maria Callas International Grand Prix China Division, the First Prize for Bel Canto in the Fourth Liaoning Provincial Golden Bell Award Singing Competition, and the Excellence Award for Bel Canto in the Tenth Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music Singing Competition.
ZHANG Wenqinas Fengxian
ZHANG Wenqin
ZHANG Wenqin is a lyric coloratura soprano and opera singer at the NCPA. She stars in the NCPA operas Un Ballo in Maschera (Oscar), Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Olympia), Le Nozze di Figaro (Susanna), La Bohème (Musetta), Gianni Schicchi (Lauretta), The Long March (WAN Xia), Lakmé (Ellen), and Snow White (Snow White). She also plays a part in the opera Thaïs and others.
ZHANG Wenqin also portrays Adina in L’Elisir D’Amore, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Danzhu in Red River Valley, Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, Despina in Così fan tutte, Gilda in Rigoletto, and Adele in Die Fledermaus.
ZHANG Wenqin was awarded the title of “Outstanding Vocal Talent” at the First Session of National Leading Vocalist Training Programme launched by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and attended the National Training Class for Young Tip-Top Vocalists organised by the China Musicians Association. She won the Golden Bell Award in the 11th Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music Singing (Bel Canto) Competition, the Second Place in the Second International Music Competition Harbin, the First Place in the Third Paolo Coni Singing Competition, the First Place and Bruson Special Prize in the Renato Bruson International Singing Competition, the First Prize for Best Graduate Singers (French) in the Third National Singing Competition for Art Institutes by the Central Conservatory of Music, and the First Place in the Second International Singing Competition for College Students.
GUO Chenas Fengxian
GUO Chen
GUO Chen is a lyric coloratura soprano at the China Oriental Performing Arts Group, an outstanding talent included in the National Leading Vocalist Training Programme by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and a member of the Chinese Musicians Association. She studied under Prof. MAO Hui, a famous baritone and vocal music educator, and YAO Hong, Vice President of the China National Opera House and a renowned soprano. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the Department of International Economics and Trade, School of Economics, Nankai University, and a Master’s Degree from the Tianjin Conservatory of Music.
GUO Chen won the Outstanding Vocalist Award at the 14th National Vocal Music Exhibition of China (former Wenhua Award). She was selected for the Fourth Shenzhen Singing Festival and won the Second Prize in the Bel Canto Group of the “Chinese Vocalist Training Programme” National Invitational. She won the First Prize for Best Bel Canto Singer in the 14th and 15th Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music Tianjin Division. She was shortlisted for the Quarter-Final of the 12th and 14th “Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music” National Competition. She was shortlisted for the Final of the First National Vocal Music Exhibition of China, which is known as the Chinese Music “Little Golden Bell” Award. She is one of the “young leading talents” at the China Oriental Performing Arts Group.
GUO Chen has played Musetta in opera La Bohème, Violetta in opera La Traviata, La Contessa d’Almaviva in opera Le Nozze di Figaro, Red Queen in musical Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and WANG Runzhi in musical commission The River of No Return. She has appeared on CCTV Sing Every Day, Hunan TV Come Sing With Me and other programmes. She has performed on many state occasions including the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. She has released original singles such as Raising Your Wine Cup, The Bright Moon, Breeze and Me and Smile, and won awards.
LI Aoas DAI Laosan
LI Ao
LI Ao is a bass-baritone residing in the United States, professor at the School of Music, Shandong University of Arts, and doctoral student in vocal music at the Central Conservatory of Music. He is a member of the Merola Opera Program, a top international artist training project, and a student in the Adler Advanced Training Class. He is a singer who has signed on with many Chinese and foreign opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Seoul Arts Center, China NCPA, etc.
LI Ao has starred in nearly 40 well-known Chinese and foreign operas, including Il Barbiere di Siviglia, L’Elisir D’Amore, Don Pasquale, Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Eugene Onegin, I Capuleti ed i Montecchi, Norma, La Bohème, Red Azalea, Paradise Interrupted and HAN Xin. He won the First Prize for Best Male Vocalist in the 21st Operalia - Placido Domingo’s World Opera Contest in 2013, the Grand Champion in the All-American Selection Test by the National Committee of the Metropolitan Opera in 2014, the Second Place in the Eighth Mt. Fuji International Opera Competition of Shizuoka in 2017, the Third Place in the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Belgium, and the First Prize for Best Bel Canto Singer in the Finals of the 12th Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music in 2019.
ZHU Heas Staff Officer REN
ZHU He
ZHU He holds a Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree from the Conservatorio di Musica “Arrigo Boito” di Parma. Now he is studying for a Doctor’s Degree at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of GUO Sen, an eminent soprano residing in Europe, Deputy Director of the Opera School of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and WANG Lei, an associate professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Art Director of the Vocal & Opera Department. ZHU He has appeared in the NCPA operas Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, La Fanciulla del West, Turandot, Snow White and A Story About Growing up. He plays Don José in Carmen, a co-production of the Opera School of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Alfredo in La Traviata, a version by the Opera School of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In 2016, ZHU He was selected for the Teatro Comunale Luciano Pavarotti di Modena’s Young Artists Programme. In 2017, he was selected for the Osmond Young Singers Programme and received a full scholarship. In 2019 and 2021, he won the First Place at the Liaoning Provincial Golden Bell Awards and was shortlisted for the Semi-Finals of the 13th Golden Bell Award National Competition. In 2025, he won the Third Prize in the Second Shangyin Opera House & Gulangyu Opera Competition. In 2022, he was selected as one of the ten most influential figures in Dalian City’s literary and art circles. His representative operas and concerts include Così fan tutte, L’Elisir D’Amore, Lucia di Lammermoor, Rigoletto, La Traviata, Carmen, La Bohème, and Carmina Burana, among others.
LIANG Yufengas SHAN Bianlang
LIANG Yufeng
LIANG Yufeng is a young tenor and honourary artist of the NCPA. His teacher is LIU Weiwei, a famous tenor. He graduated from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China with a degree in communication engineering in 2009, and was admitted to the China NCPA Chorus that same year. Since then, he has successively acted in more than 50 Chinese and foreign operas, and has served as a soloist or lead singer at many concerts held by the NCPA. His performance in the operas and concerts is widely acclaimed by the audience. LIANG Yufeng is the NCPA Chorus Managing Director and Head of the Tenor Part.
LIANG Yufeng plays a part in the opera Falstaff (Dr. Caius), a co-production of the NCPA and Vienna State Opera; the NCPA operas Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Natanelle/Spalanzani), Le Nozze di Figaro (Basilio/Judge), Carmen (El Remendado), Die Lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow) (Berlioees), Der Rosenkavalier (Lady Marshall’s Butler/Innkeeper), Rusalka (The Hunter), and La Traviata (Giuseppe); the NCPA Chinese opera commission The Song of Youth (YU Yongze), Chinese epic opera commission The Long March (Boy Ping), and national opera commission Minning Town (Debao), NCPA classic national opera The Daughter of the Party (CHENG), children’s opera commission A Story about Growing up (The Unhappy Boy in Adulthood), and Chinese opera commissions Jinsha River (MIAO), Xishi (Bopi), The Red Guards on Honghu Lake (Laoyao), Rickshaw Boy (Platoon Leader SUN/Detective SUN), Visitors on the Snow Mountain (Third Platoon Leader), and FANG Zhimin (Jailer A).
XIE Xinyuas SHAN Bianlang
XIE Xinyu
XIE Xinyu was admitted to the Vocal & Opera Department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music for a doctor’s degree in 2023. He has studied under Prof. YU Xiele, Prof. LUO Wei, Prof. LIAO Changyong, art director Prof. MA Sihong, SUN Qidi and Associate Professor WANG Lei. Now he is a member of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music Youth Opera Troupe.
XIE Xinyu has played important roles in many Chinese and foreign operas - In September 2019, he acted the role of HE Lyuting in the Shanghai Conservatory of Music opera commission HE Lyuting. In 2022, he worked with the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra as Marcello in Puccini’s opera La Bohème. That September and November, he portrayed SHANG Yong and Sonam in the Shanghai Conservatory of Music opera commission Kangding Love Song. In December 2023, he collaborated with the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra as lead baritone at the Carmina Burana New Year’s Eve Concert. In April 2024, he played the role of Fiorello in Rossini’s opera Il Barbiere di Siviglia. That August, he shared the stage with the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra as Silvio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. That December, he portrayed Morales in the French classic opera Carmen, a co-production of the Opera School of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Opéra National de Bordeaux.
In addition, XIE Xinyu played leading roles in the large-scale performances held at the 90th Anniversary Celebration of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the 35th Shanghai Spring International Music Festival, the Fifth China Opera Festival and the 29th “Autumn in Chengdu” International Music Season.
NCPA Resident Singers
NCPA Resident Singers
As an indispensable backbone of the NCPA’s opera production, as well as China’s opera stage, the NCPA Resident Singers, founded in October 2011, stand composed of outstanding opera artists from at home and abroad. As one of the most representative and outstanding teams for interpreting the art of opera, they play a crucial role in about 70 Chinese opera commissions and world classic operas produced by the NCPA. They are a Chinese opera ensemble that has reached the most extensive and deepest cooperation with world-class conductors, directors, singers and stage artists, world-renowned theaters and art institutions, etc. They are also one of the few artist teams managed under professional international standards. Keeping their mission firmly in mind and remaining true to their original aspiration, the singers remain committed to maintaining the high quality of Chinese opera commissions and carrying forward the spirit of Chinese culture by adding the wings of vocal art to the Chinese story. They have toured Turin, Milan, Genoa, Florence, Parma, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and China Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, Nanchang, Urumqi and many other places across the globe.
As leading artists, the NCPA Resident Singers have participated in national cultural performances and international cultural exchanges including A Millennium Promise, a theatrical gala held at the “Belt and Road” Forum for International Cooperation, and A Great Journey, a theatrical performance for celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. They also sing for the people by giving “100 public-spirited performances” and carrying out art education activities, as a significant part of the “Drip Irrigation Project” designed to popularise elegant art and widen the Chinese audience for opera.
Upholding the tenet of “being for the people, for art, and for the world” and adhering to the principles of leadership, inheritance, innovation, compatibility and openness, the NCPA Resident Singers stand devoted to spreading the art of opera in China and initiating a dialogue with the world through elegant art.
China NCPA Chorus
China NCPA Chorus
China NCPA Chorus was established on December 8, 2009. It is the resident chorus of the China National Centre for the Performing Arts. WU Lingfen, the famous conductor, serves as its chorus master. As the professional artistic performing group that belongs to the highest palace of performing arts in China, the chorus adheres to the NCPA’s guiding principle of "for the people, for art, for the world" and is recognized as a vigorous professional chorus with infinite potential.
As one of China’s leading choruses both in the opera and concert, the NCPA Chorus has participated in more than 60 Chinese and foreign operas produced by the NCPA such as
Xishi,
The Ballad of Canal,
The Red Guards on Honghu Lake,
Visitors on the Snow Mountain,
FANG Zhimin,
The Long March, The Daughter of the Party, Turandot,
Carmen,
La Traviata,
Der Fliegende Holländer, and
Aida. The chorus has also planned and performed in many large-scale vocal works and theme concerts including Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Mahler’s Eighth Symphonies, Verdi’s
Requiem, and Concert to Commemorate the 110
th Anniversary of HUANG Zi’s Birth, opera concerts such as
William Tell,
Don Juan and so on
. By means of the concerts, the chorus have get high appraisals by the high artistic standard. The late conductor Lorin Maazel said, “It is a chorus of passion”; conductor Daniel Oren, who was excited after rehearsal, said, “This is the chorus that has the best sound I have ever heard. Young as they are, they are better than many of the choruses in Europe”; conductor
Antonio Pappano said, “This is a youthful and passionate chorus that has been well trained to sound wonderful and harmonious”; the world famous tenor Domingo once said, “I am honoured to cooperate with these gifted young artists”.
In addition, they were invited to participate in the Opening ceremony of the XXIV Winter Olympic Games music recording, The National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference 2024 New Year Tea Party Performance and other major national cultural activities. The chorus has actively demonstrated their mission and responsibility.
The NCPA Chorus has made unremitting efforts and continuous pursuit in art, and has accumulated a series of representative songs with distinctive artistic style like
Take the Lead, The Moon Rises above the Island and so on
. They have commissioned the creation and adaptation of
The Sky-like Alashan,
Crescent Moon and other works have been loved and widely praised by the audience.
The journey of music is full of beauty and joy. The NCPA Chorus has gone through a glorious history of 15 years. The artists of the chorus devote their most vigorous and dynamic youth to the cause of opera and chorus. Looking forward to a new journey, the NCPA Chorus will continue to sing without forgetting the original intention.
China NCPA Orchestra
China NCPA Orchestra
China NCPA Orchestra is the resident orchestra of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Beijing. Since its founding in 2010, the orchestra has fast established itself as one of the most adventurous and dynamic orchestras in the country and earned an international reputation through extensive performances abroad.
Numerous world-renowned artists have collaborated with the orchestra, including Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Valery Gergiev, Myung-Whun Chung, Christoph Eschenbach, Daniele Gatti, Fabio Luisi, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Leif Segerstam, Gunter Herbig, Shao-Chia Lu, ZHANG Xian, Rudolf Buchbinder, Stephen Kovacevich, Khatia Buniatishvili, Lang Lang, Yuja Wang, ZHANG Haochen, Víkingur Ólafsson, Kyung-Wha Chung, Vadim Repin, Siqing Lu, NING Feng, WANG Jian, Gautier Capucon, Alison Balsom, Sabine Meyer, Placido Domingo, Leo Nucci, Renee Fleming among many others. Lorin Maazel worked closely with the orchestra before his passing and praised the musicians for their “amazing professionalism and great passion in music”. Christoph Eschenbach also declared it as “one of the finest orchestras in Asia”.
Over the years, the orchestra has gained critical acclaim for its artistic excellence in both concerts and operas. To date they have played in over 70 NCPA opera productions, including classical repertoires such as Das Rheingold, Tristan and Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Aida, Otello, Nabucco, Tosca, Turandot, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Eugene Onegin, and newly commissioned works Rickshaw Boy, The Long March, Fang Zhimin, The Jinsha River, Visitors on the Snow Mountain and The Dawns Here Are Quiet. Their live recording of The Ring without Words with its creator, Lorin Maazel, was released on SONY Music worldwide, the only recording the great maestro ever made with an orchestra from China. In 2019, the orchestra’s recording of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 was awarded "Best Orchestral Album" at the 2018 Chinese Audiophile Vinyl Award. In 2021, the NCPAO released Beethoven’s Egmont becoming the first Chinese orchestra to record this masterpiece. In celebration of the decade tenure of its Music Director LÜ Jia, the orchestra released a selection of live recordings conducted by LÜ Jia in 2022. 2024 sees the NCPAO release the recordings of Bruckner’s complete numbered symphonies.
The orchestra has consistently offered creative and diverse programmes through its concert season. As part of its continuous efforts to promote contemporary music, the orchestra presented the China Premieres of major works by John Adams, Toru Takemitsu et al. and gave the World Premieres of dozens of substantial new orchestral works commissioned from composers across the globe, including Qigang Chen, ZHAO Jiping, Michael Gordon, Kalevi Aho, HUANG Ruo, Bright Sheng, Bernd Richard Deutch, et al. It has also played a significant role in the NCPA's Young Composers Programme, providing a unique platform nurturing the next generation of composers in China.
Alongside its concert series, the orchestra has received widespread praise for its international appearances at the Kissingen Summer Music Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and concerts in many cities in Germany, as well as cities in Sydney, Singapore, Seoul, Daegu, Abu Dhabi, Taipei and Macao. In 2014, the orchestra undertook its first North American tour and returned in 2017, where it performed at Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony Center, Davies Symphony Hall and other major venues in the US and Canada, under the baton of LÜ Jia. Musical America praised its “joyful confidence and youthful strength”. Concerto Net described it as “a polished, first rate ensemble”. In 2021, they appeared in "See Me: A Global Concert" along with world-wide artists, orchestras and choirs as part of the Opening Ceremony of the World Economic Forum’s Davos Agenda virtual event. In 2022, the orchestra recorded for the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, accompanying billions of viewers to witness the lighting of the Olympic flame. In April 2023, musicians from the orchestra visited South America performing joint concerts with Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra in Brazil and Instituto Superior de Arte de Teatro Colon in Argentina.
With its commitment to educational and outreach activities, the orchestra has presented a series of Weekend Matinee Concerts at its home venue, providing local audience specially selected programmes and accessible ticket prices. The orchestra also frequently initiates wide-reaching educational projects in association with educational institutions across the city. In 2020, the orchestra launched an online concert series drawing an average audience of 30 million viewers. In 2024, the Beijing Youth Orchestra, operated by the NCPAO, participated in World Orchestra Week and made its international debut at Carnegie Hall. April 2021 saw the orchestra complete their first six-city national tour, which Music Weekly praised as "a series of sophisticated programmes in concerts that blew the roof off,” followed by the second national tour in March 2023.
In February 2012, LÜ Jia took up the post of Chief Conductor, succeeding CHEN Zuohuang, NCPA’s then Artistic Director of Music as well as a founder of the orchestra. In January 2017, LÜ Jia started serving as NCPA's Artistic Director of Music and the NCPA Orchestra's Music Director. In 2022, SUN Yifan and LAI Jiajing were appointed as assistant conductors.
*Please purchase tickets through authorized channels to avoid counterfeiting. Before completing your purchase, please verify the performance date, time, venue, and seat number carefully. Performance tickets are time-sensitive and limited in availability. Once a transaction has been completed, tickets are non-exchangeable, non-refundable and cannot be reissued if lost. Please double-check all ticketing details and securely retain your physical ticket or electronic order. If you are unable to attend due to personal reasons, please make your own arrangements regarding the use of your tickets. We appreciate your understanding as any inconvenience caused.
*The cast, programme, or other performance details are subject to change and shall be based on the live performance. In the event of major adjustments - such as changes to the performance date or lead cast - please refer to the official announcements issued by the NCPA and follow the relevant procedures as instructed.
*The NCPA opens 90 minutes before performances, and 60 minutes before art education lectures and similar events. Auditorium entry begins 45 minutes before performances. For all performances and events, the Northern entrance serves as the sole public entrance. Please ensure that ticket scanning and security screening are completed prior to entry, and allow sufficient time to avoid delays.
*Tickets must be retained in their original, intact condition. Admission will be denied for tickets lacking a stub, or bearing any alterations, obscured information, or defacement. Each ticket is valid for a single entry on the date of the performance. For certain performances, presentation of original valid identification documents is required. Admission will be granted only when the ticket information corresponds with the presented identification.
*Recommended admission height: 1.2 meters and above. Special provisions may apply to certain performances or events, as indicated on the corresponding ticketing page.
*All attendees are required to undergo security screening upon entry. Smoking and open flames are strictly prohibited within the NCPA premises. Prohibited items include, but not limited to, firearms and replicas, controlled knives, flammable or explosive substances, toxic or hazardous materials, corrosive substances, and radioactive materials. Any prohibited items discovered will be handed over to public security authorities.
*For safety and hygiene reasons, the NCPA does not provide storage services for food, beverages, or similar items. The following items are not permitted inside the NCPA: food and drinks, flags & banners, electronic cigarettes, power banks exceeding 20000mAh, flowers, recording or photography equipment, and oversized luggage.
*Attendees are requested to address appropriately. Admissions will be denied to individuals who are improperly attired or under the influence of alcohol.
*If you are late, please wait quietly in the audience waiting area. Entry will be permitted under the guidance of ushers during appropriate intermissions or between movements, and you are requested to take the nearest available seat with minimal disturbance. For concerts consisting of a single piece - either for the entire performance or a complete half - late arrivals and audience who leave midway will not be admitted.
*All attendees are requested to observe proper performance etiquette. Please keep quiet and remain seated throughout the entire performance. Mobile phones should be turned off or set to silent mode, and calls should not be made in the auditorium. Photography, audio, or video recording of the performance is strictly prohibited without prior permission. The use of flashlights, including phone flashlights, is not allowed.
* After the performance, please exit the auditoriums in an orderly manner. Loitering is discouraged.
This page provides performance information only.
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