From March 6^th onwards after the Chinese New Year, the NCPA (National Centre for the Performing Arts) Concert Hall will be visited by many world-class ensembles one after another, such as the New York Philharmonic, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, State Academic Symphony Orchestra "Evgeny Svetlanov" and Russian National Orchestra, as well as highly-acclaimed conductors and performers including Jaap van Zweden, Fabio Luisi, Kristjan Järvi, Mikhail Pletnev and LI Biao.

On March 8^th-9^th, the New York Philharmonic, which hasn’t visited Beijing for ten years, will appear under the baton of the music director designate Jaap van Zweden. The New York Philharmonic, founded in 1842, is the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States of America, and has been led by one virtuosic music director after another, such as Mahler, Toscanini and Bernstein.

In 1998, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra made its first visit to Beijing under the leadership of then music director Kurt Masur. In 2008, the orchestra made its NCPA debut under the baton of then music director Lorin Maazel. Ten years has passed, and the time-honoured orchestra will make its fourth appearance in Beijing. Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden was appointed the 26^th music director in early 2016 and will assume the position from the 2018-2019 season. Additionally, Van Zweden had transformed from himself from a violinist into a conductor, since Bernstein had suggested he do so.

In two concerts given, Van Zweden will conduct masterpieces of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring with violinist Ryu Goto and pianist Yuja Wang.

“I have loved making music with this exceptional Orchestra ever since my debut six years ago, and I’m thrilled to be collaborating with them in the intensive, immersive context of a tour,” said music director designate Jaap van Zweden. “The brilliant musicians of the New York Philharmonic bring insight to Mahler, beauty to Brahms, and, to all, admirable discipline and astounding virtuosity and passion. I also look forward to reuniting with Yuja Wang and working with Ryu Goto, and to revisiting Asian capitals, whose sophisticated audiences I’ve gotten to know over the years.”

On March 14^th, conductor Fabio Luisi, who enjoys tremendous popularity in international music circles, will appear yet again at the NCPA. The Danish National Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1925, is one of the most time-honoured Nordic orchestras. The orchestra will demonstrate Denmark’s distinctive music culture by playing Danish composer, Carl Nielsen’s best-known composition Symphony No.5. In the second half, the orchestra will work with percussionist LI Biao to perform The Rite of Mountains, a concerto for percussionist and orchestra composed by Chinese composer GUO Wenjing. The work, composed by GUO in memory of the Wenchuan Earthquake, has been performed by LI Biao many times before.

On March 6^th, conductor Kristjan Järvi will appear at NCPA with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra "Evgeny Svetlanov". Kristjan Järvi was born from a musical family, more than ten members of which are professional musicians, including his father Neeme Järvi and elder brother Paavo Järvi, both world-renowned conductors. The State Academic Symphony Orchestra "Evgeny Svetlanov", which is led by Kristjan Järvi, is one of the oldest orchestras in Russia and has a history of over 80 years. The orchestra was conducted by Mrawinski, Kondrashin, Rozhdestvensky and Temirkanov, Russian maestros familiar to audiences. In the second half, the orchestra will perform dramatic symphony Swan Lake, an adaptation by conductor Järvi based on the classic ballet by Tchaikovsky. With the rich melodies in the original reconstructed, the adaptation is made into a dramatic symphony novel in narration and unique in style.

On March 15^th, maestro Mikhail Pletnev, who is a pianist, conductor and composer, will appear again at the NCPA with the Russian National Orchestra. Although the Russian National Orchestra, founded by Pletnev, just has a history of 28 years, has become a rising star in the circle of classical orchestras. In 2016, Pletnev came to the NCPA as a conductor with the orchestra, and expressed his interprtations on Russian symphonic music. Pletnev will appear as a pianist and play Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 under the baton of Alexander Sladkovsky, a new-generation conductor of Russia. The orchestra will stage Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite and contemporary American composer’s Ancestor Suites, which is composed according to a moving scene in The Fall of the House of Usher, a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe.