A season to celebrate

With three venues in Beijing, the China NCPA Orchestra ushers in its 15th year with a bumper crop of concerts, Chen Nan reports.

Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, the China NCPA Orchestra, the resident symphony orchestra of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, announced its full program for the 2024-25 season on Sept 3. In all, 106 performances, including 11 operas, 39 concerts and five chamber music concerts, are on the roster.

Conducted by Germany's Markus Stenz, the orchestra opened its new season with two concerts on Sept 7 and 8, with programs including Beethoven's Symphony No 5 in C Minor, Op 67 and the Chinese premiere of German composer Detlev Glanert's Frenesia. Hong Kongborn pianist Chiyan Wong also performed.

"This new season is exciting because the NCPA has three venues in the capital, which allow more people to enjoy classical music," says Lyu Jia, the orchestra's music director and the national center's artistic director of music.

The new season has been defined under the theme of "the Created Universe", which is inspired by the classical philosophical text, the Dao De Jing, or the Tao Te Ching, the foundation of Taoism.

"We love the idea of Taoism — everything should comply with its natural attributes and be in harmony with the universe," Lyu says. "It's just like the birth and growth of the symphony orchestra. We have let it develop naturally and become who we are today."

One of the highlights of the new season will be the orchestra's journey with Austrian composer Anton Bruckner, which started more than three years ago and will conclude this month. To mark the bicentenary of his birth, the NCPA orchestra will release a recording of his complete works.