Sheng virtuoso Wu Wei, who is the artist-inresidence of the orchestra's new season, performs under the baton of conductor Lyu Jia at the NCPA in Beijing on Sept 19. [Photo provided to China Daily]
On a late September evening in Beijing, the stage of the National Centre for the Performing Arts pulsed with anticipation. The China NCPA Orchestra, celebrating its 15th anniversary and fresh from a triumphant European tour, lifted the curtain on its 2025-26 season. The theme was telling: "Back to the Future". It was both a nod to the orchestra's remarkable journey since its founding in 2010 and a promise of what lies ahead.
The new season, which opened on Sept 19, brings together world-class musicians for 115 performances, including 37 opera shows across eight productions, 48 symphonic concerts in 30 programs, 22 chamber orchestra performances, and eight chamber ensemble concerts. For an ensemble that has already presented nearly 1,600 performances with more than 360 guest artists from around the globe, the milestone felt as much like a celebration of growth as it did a launch into the future.
Just weeks before, in August, the orchestra concluded a five-stop European tour, drawing near sold-out crowds and praise from critics across the continent — another sign of its rising global reputation.
The season opened with a celebratory concert led by the orchestra's music director Lyu Jia, featuring Richard Strauss' Don Juan and Also sprach Zarathustra. Artist-in-residence, sheng (one of the oldest Chinese wind instruments) virtuoso Wu Wei also joined the performance, presenting composer Huang Ruo's sheng concerto The Color Yellow.
The China NCPA Orchestra opens its 2025-26 season with a concert led by conductor Lyu Jia in Beijing on Sept 19. [Photo provided to China Daily]
The evening concluded with a touching surprise: the orchestra offered a specially arranged rendition of Happy Birthday for Lyu's 61st birthday, filling the concert hall with warmth, music, and applause.
"Over these 15 years, I have been fortunate to go along with the orchestra for 13 of them," says Lyu. "We have achieved fruitful results together and the 15 years is also a beautiful beginning since we have a long road ahead."
Looking forward, the 2025-26 program highlights the Dimension of Mozart series, part of worldwide celebrations marking the 270th anniversary of the composer's birth, in 2026. The orchestra will present Mozart's genius across genres, exploring both his complexity and his forward-looking spirit. Lyu will conduct two all-Mozart programs, featuring Symphony No 35 in D Major, Haffner, K 385, Symphony No 36 in C Major, Linz, K 425 and Symphony No 41 in C Major, Jupiter, K 551.
Having earned international recognition for his Bruckner recordings with the orchestra, Lyu will also return to Beethoven, Schumann, Strauss and Tchaikovsky, adding depth and familiarity to the season's offerings.
Conductor Lyu Jia has worked as the music director of the China NCPA Orchestra and its principal conductor for 13 years. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Another milestone is the appointment of conductor Zhang Xian as principal guest conductor in the new season. Highly regarded on the international stage, Zhang will bring her own artistic stamp with performances of Mozart's Symphony No 39.
"My connection with the China NCPA Orchestra began with our first collaboration in 2015. Since then, we have collaborated on stage in multiple seasons, creating numerous unforgettable moments," says Zhang, who is the music director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.
Zhang will collaborate with violinist Yang Tianwa to perform violin concertos of Sergei Prokofiev and Max Bruch. She will also perform with pianist Zhang Haochen on piano concertos of Ravel and of Chen Qigang, as well as Rachmaninoff's Symphony No 2.
"In this season, I look forward to exploring new forms of artistic expression with the orchestra. Every rehearsal and performance offers an opportunity to expand our musical horizons," she adds.
The guest roster is among the richest in the orchestra's history. Valery Gergiev will lead the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra and the China NCPA Orchestra in Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony No 7 in C Major Op 60 and The Yellow River Piano Concerto, featuring pianist Lou Wei, while Jaap van Zweden, Fabio Luisi and Lawrence Foster are among other world-renowned conductors set to appear. Soloists include violinists Augustin Hadelich and Viktoria Mullova, pianist Lukas Geniusas, and soprano Sarah Brightman, alongside rising Chinese talents and winners of major international competitions.
At 80, celebrated composer Bao Yuankai has completed a landmark commission: a choral-symphonic version of Chinese Sights and Sounds. First composed as an orchestral suite in 1991, the work has been expanded and refined across 34 years. In November, it will receive its world premiere under the baton of conductor Qian Junping, with soloists Wang Hongwei and Wu Bixia, joined by the China NCPA Chorus and the Beijing Philharmonic Choir.
Another highlight is the expansion of the Petit & Delicacy series, introduced in the previous season and already beloved for its blend of refinement and exploration.
This season, the series expands to 17 programs across 22 concerts, offering a rich journey through musical history. Audiences will encounter the pioneering symphonic experiments of composers, including Tomaso Albinoni, Bach and Haydn, the timeless classics of Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, as well as inventive new works by Arvo Part and contemporary Chinese composers. Together, these programs balance intimacy and discovery, bridging past and present with elegance and imagination.
The NCPA has named violinist Li Zhe as the new executive director of the China NCPA Orchestra on Sept 5, a move announced just as the ensemble returned from its first full-scale European tour.
Li emphasizes that the season will be more than a sequence of concerts. Music lovers can expect lectures, workshops and master classes with acclaimed artists, offering deeper insight into the stories behind the music. The orchestra will also host regular public rehearsals, inviting audiences to witness the process of performance taking shape from the very first note.
"In March 2010, when the orchestra was officially established, we were filled with new hope mixed with confusion. What the orchestra would become in a few years or a decade was not clear to us then," recalls Li. "The 65 musicians who came to Beijing from all over the world carried youthful energy. They laid an extraordinary foundation, embedding passion, vitality, openness and collaboration into the DNA of the orchestra."
"We have shared many historical moments together, which help us to gain clearer insights about our future," he adds.
