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CHINA NCPA ORCHESTRA is the resident orchestra of the China National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA). Lü Jia has become the Music Director in 2017.

CHINA NCPA ORCHESTRA is the resident orchestra of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), China. Established in March 2010, the orchestra consists of highly accomplished musicians from around the world, who perform in more than a dozen opera productions presented by its home venue each year as well as in ballets and regular orchestral concerts in its own season. With a notably busy schedule, the young ensemble has fast established itself as one of the most adventurous and dynamic orchestras in the country. Lü Jia took up the post of Chief Conductor in February 2011, succeeding Chen Zuohuang, the current Conductor Laureate, NCPA's Music Director, and also one of the founders of the orchestra. In March 2022, SUN Yifan and LAI Jiajing have been appointed as Assistant Counductors.

29/09/2026

When poetry meets music, a new season begins.

On September 26 and 27, the China NCPA Orchestra opened its 2026/27 Season, “Song of the Earth,” with two sold-out concerts under the baton of Music Director Lü Jia.

Joined by tenor Simon O’Neill and mezzo-soprano Anna Werle, the Orchestra performed Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth), a work whose poetic roots reach back to classical Chinese verse of the Tang dynasty.

The concerts also featured acclaimed reciter Li Lihong, known for his narration in A Bite of China. He performed Bai Juyi’s Song of the P**a Player (琵琶行) alongside the Adagietto from Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.

Throughout the 2026/27 Season, the orchestra will continue to bring poetry from East and West together with classical music, exploring how words and sound travel across languages, cultures, and time.

22/09/2026

Meet our 2026/27 Artist-in-Residence: ZENG Yun

Principal Horn of the Berliner Philharmoniker, ZENG Yun joins the China NCPA Orchestra as one of our two Artists-in-Residence this season, alongside violist Mei Diyang.

Throughout the season, Zeng explores the colour, lyricism and expressive possibilities of the horn across chamber and orchestral settings. As part of his residency, he will lead his own chamber project with the China NCPA Orchestra Chamber Ensemble, bringing repertoire from the Baroque and Classical traditions into dialogue with music of later generations.

Later in May 2027, ZENG Yun and fellow Artist-in-Residence MEI Diyang come together under the baton of Manfred Honecker in Schmidt’s concerto for horn, viola and orchestra.

📆 2027.04.10 BPAC Concert Hall
“The Limitless” LAI Jiajing, ZENG Yun, and NCPAO Chamber Orchestra

📆 2027.05.14/15 NCPA Concert Hall
“Rhyme and Radiance” Manfred Honeck, MEI Diyang, ZENG Yun and NCPAO

Follow his residency throughout the 2026/27 Season.

21/09/2026

Meet our 2026/27 Artist-in-Residence: MEI Diyang

Principal Viola of the Berliner Philharmoniker, MEI Diyang joins the China NCPA Orchestra as one of our two Artists-in-Residence this season, alongside horn player Zeng Yun.

Throughout the season, Mei will lead chamber projects that explore the expressive range of the viola, while the two Artists-in-Residence bring music spanning Handel, Mozart, Bruch and Telemann to Guan Qingwu and Piazzolla into new musical conversations.

Their journeys come together next May, when MEI Diyang and ZENG Yun join the orchestra for Heather Schmidt’s Light and Shadow, a concerto for viola, horn and orchestra, conducted by Manfred Honecker.

📆 2026.10.25 NCPA Concert Hall “The Limitless Viola” Mei Diyang and NCPAO Chamber Orchestra

📆2027.05.14/15 NCPA Concert Hall “Rhyme and Radiance” Manfred Honeck, MEI Diyang, ZENG Yun and NCPAO

Follow MEI Diyang throughout the China NCPA Orchestra’s 2026/27 Season.

20/09/2026

Three series run through 2026/27 ODE TO THE EARTH.

Across the NCPAO’s 2026/27 Season, music moves between poetry and sound, the enduring legacy of Beethoven, and voices rooted in Chinese history, memory and culture.

至乐永恒 · Immortal Beethoven
Marking 200 years since Beethoven’s death, the season returns to his symphonies while tracing how later composers quote, reshape and reimagine his musical legacy.

未言之象 · Transcendence of Melopoeisis
Where poetry meets music across eras, languages and traditions, from Mallarmé and Goethe to Su Shi, Rimbaud and Hai Zi.

乐是故乡明 · Sounds of Homeland
Chinese history, folk traditions, poetry and contemporary creation come together in works that explore memory, homeland and the changing voice of our time.

Three paths, one season.

19/09/2026

2026/27 Season brings together artists and ensembles around the world across symphonic music and chamber music.

The season opens with Lü Jia conducting Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, joined by Simon O'Neill and Anna Werle . Later in the season, LÜ Jia returns to Mahler with the Ninth Symphony.

Highlights include Gustavo Dudamel leading the Sinfónica Simón Bolívar de Venezuela , together with the China NCPA Orchestra and Chorus, in Beethoven’s Ninth; Manfred Honeck conducting Beethoven’s Sixth; and ASM in a John Williams programme featuring his Violin Concerto No. 2.

Myung-Whun Chung returns with Jian Wang in Dvořák’s Cello Concerto and conducts Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique. 沈洋Shenyang joins Resident Conductor Lai Jiajing in a dialogue between poetry and music across eras and traditions.

The season also brings major orchestral collaborations: led by Music Director Tarmo Peltokoski, HK Phil joins the China NCPA Orchestra and Chorus for Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, while the Hong Kong String Orchestra, with conductor Chen Lin and violinist Yao Jue, brings works by Hong Kong composers to the season. Tan Dun returns to the podium for the premiere of Bianzhong concerto version of “Heaven Earth Mankind.”

And to close the season, Wu Man吳蠻 joins the Orchestra for the China premiere of Mason Bates P**a Concerto — bringing ODE TO THE EARTH to its final chapter.

Explore the full season via the link in bio.

18/09/2026

Meet the artists shaping our 2026/27 Season.

Music Director LÜ Jia Lü Jia leads the China NCPA Orchestra into ODE TO THE EARTH, joined throughout the season by Principal Guest Conductor Xian Zhang Xian Zhang , Resident Conductor LAI Jiajing Jiajing Lai , and Artists-in-Residence Diyang Mei - Viola and Yun Zeng .

Across the season, their work spans Mahler and Beethoven, opera and chamber music, contemporary works and new musical voices — all part of a season exploring life, time and humanity.

ODE TO THE EARTH
China NCPA Orchestra 2026/27 Season

Explore the full season via the link in bio.

04/09/2026

2026/27 Season

September 16th

15/07/2026

A moment when centuries of sound met on one stage. ✨

On July 10 & 11, NCPAO brought together artists from around the world for two sold-out performances.

The world premiere of Jukka Tiensuu’s Sheng and Organ Concerto united the timeless voice of the sheng with the majestic resonance of the organ, creating a dialogue between two distinct traditions.

The program continued with Mahler’s orchestration of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, offering a fresh perspective on a timeless masterpiece.

Led by maestro Kahchun Wong Kahchun Wong , with sheng virtuoso Wu Wei and organist Sofija Grgur Sofija Grgur , the concerts celebrated music’s power to connect cultures and inspire new possibilities.

08/07/2026

With Maestro Myung-Whun Chung, a Busan reunion to remember!

NCPAO musicians returned to Busan Concert Hall 부산콘서트홀 공식인스타그램 for the third time, joining the hall’s 1st Anniversary Festival from July 2 to 12 as part of the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra, an ensemble bringing together outstanding Asian musicians from leading orchestras around the world.

Under Maestro Chung’s baton, the APO presented a spectacular series of concerts throughout the festival, including Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, and a concert version of Carmen.

Spot any familiar faces in the photos? 👀 Berlin Philharmonic Principal Horn and NCPAO Guest Principal Horn Zeng Yun Yun Zeng also joined this special lineup!

Were you there for the concerts? Share your favorite moments with us in the comments!

04/03/2026

“This programme is built around the idea of musical dialogue — works presented in pairs that illuminate one another across time.
Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 inspired Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks and both first movements in E-flat major. Lully and Molière’s Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme later gave rise to Richard Strauss’s own theatrical and orchestral reimagining, complete with direct quotations. Schoenberg’s Concerto for String Quartet openly draws from Handel’s Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 7.
Placed side by side, these works allow us to hear transformation in real time and how ideas evolve, refract, and re-emerge in new musical languages.
The concert closes with Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite. Long associated with Pergolesi, it is now understood that many of its sources were only mistakenly attributed to him. The suite in fact draws from a range of Baroque composers — which makes Stravinsky’s reworking all the more fascinating. One day, I hope to programme the original sources alongside Pulcinella — you may be surprised how little he actually changed.
Grateful for the opportunity to collaborate for the first time with the musicians of NCPAO on March 8 and looking forward to sharing this dialogue with you.”

Yukuang Jin

cr. Theresa-Pewal

Address

No. 2 West Chang'an Street
Beijing
100031

Telephone

+861066550521

Website

http://www.chncpa.org/ncpao/en

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