Scottish director David McVicar was born in Glasgow in 1966. He studied acting at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and discovered directing there. He is now acclaimed as one of the world's foremost opera directors, engagements including Giulio Cesare, Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda and Il trovatore (Metropolitan Opera, New York), Les Troyens (La Scala, Milan), Don Giovanni (Opera Australia), La clemenza di Tito (Aix-en-Provence Festival), Don Carlo (Tokyo), Tristan und Isolde (Tokyo and Vienna), The Turn of the Screw, Medea, Alcina and Tosca (English National Opera), Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Glyndebourne Festival), The Rake's Progress, Madama Butterfly, La traviata and Idomeneo (Scottish Opera), Don Giovanni and Il re pastore (Opera North), Semele (Théatre Champs-Elysées), The Turn of The Screw and Macbeth (Mariinsky), Agrippina (Barcelona, La Monnaie, Brussels, Théatre Champs-Elysées and Frankfurt), Der Rosenkavalier (Scottish Opera, Opera North and ENO), Così fan tutte (Strasbourg and Scottish Opera), Billy Budd and Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Chicago), Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Salzburg Festival) and Der Ring Des Nibelungen (Strasbourg).

McVicar's awards include the 2011 Grand Prix de la Musique du Syndicat de la Critique for his Strasbourg production of the Ring cycle. In 2012 he received a knighthood and was made a Chevalier de l'ordre des arts et des lettres.

He trained at the Central School of Art and Design in London. He has designed more than fifteen productions for the RSC, including Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Othello and The Winter’s Tale. Other theatre designs include Look Back in Anger, Noises Off and The Playboy of the Western World (NT), Kiss Me, Kate, The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, Benefactors and Calendar Girls (West End) and productions on Broadway, and for the Donmar Warehouse, Chichester Festival Theatre, Sheffield Crucible and Manchester Royal Exchange. For David McVicar he has designed sets for Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Glyndebourne Festival, Metropolitan Opera, New York, Chicago), L'incoronazione di Poppea (Paris and Berlin), Don Carlo (Frankfurt), Tristan und Isolde (Toyko and Vienna),Don Giovanni (Opera Australia) and Anna Bolena (Metropolitan Opera). Other opera designs include Die Fledermaus (Metropolitan Opera). He was production designer for the film Hamlet (BBC). Plans include Taken at Midnight (Chichester Festival). 

She works internationally as a costume and set designer. She has been Associate Designer at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East and Director of Theatre Design at Shakespeare's Globe. In 2003 she won the Olivier Award for Best Costume Design for Twelfth Night at Shakespeare's Globe. She recently redesigned costumes forTwelfth Night (for which she won the 2014 Tony Award) and designed costumes forRichard III (Shakespeare's Globe, Apollo Theatre, Belasco Theatre, Broadway). She has worked with David McVicar on L'incoronazione di Poppea (Théatre des Champs-Elysées, Paris, Strasbourg, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen), La clemenza di Tito (Aix-en-Provence, Toulouse, Marseilles, Chicago) and Anna Bolena(Metropolitan Opera, New York). She is the founder of The School of Historical Dress, co-author of the two-volume Seventeenth-Century Womens Dress Patterns(V & A Publications) and lectures on the history of costume. 

Born in the USA, his recent opera lighting work includes Adriana Lecouvreur (Royal Opera), Partenope (San Francisco and ENO), three early Verdi operas (Hamburg State Opera), Powder Her Face, Julius Caesar, Billy Budd, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Peter Grimes, Boris Godunov, Lucia di Lammermoor, Jenufa and The Turn of the Screw (ENO), The Makropulos Case (ENO and Prague), Un ballo in maschera (Metropolitan Opera, New York), Norma (Opera North) and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Dutch National Opera). His recent theatre work includes Macbeth (Trafalgar Theatre), Hamlet (Young Vic), Misterman and Dido,Queen of Carthage (NT), My Fair Lady (Théatre du Chatelet, Paris), Hecuba (RSC),A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (West End), Wild East (Royal Court) and Five Gold Rings (Almeida). He works regularly with Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre. Other recent dance work includes Aeternum (Royal Ballet).

He trained at the Laban Centre. Opera credits include Les Troyens and Salome(Royal Opera), Adriana Lecouvreur (Royal Opera, Barcelona, Vienna), Agrippina,The Handmaid's Tale, The Valkyrie and The Turn of the Screw (ENO), Giulio Cesare (also Metropolitan Opera, New York), Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (also Chicago)and Carmen (Glyndebourne), The Rake's Progress (Scottish Opera, Turin), Der Rosenkavalier (Scottish Opera, Opera North, ENO), La traviata(Scottish Opera, WNO, Geneva), Love for Three Oranges (Grange Park), Anna Bolena and Don Giovanni (Metropolitan Opera, New York), Don Giovanni (Opera Australia), Tristan und Isolde (Tokyo, Vienna), Rusalka (Lyric Opera of Chicago),Don Carlos (Frankfurt), L'incoronazione di Poppea (Théatre des Champs-Elysées, Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen), Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Salzburg Festival),L'elisir d'amore (Amsterdam), Tannhauser (La Scala, Milan) and Wagner's Ring cycle (Opéra National du Rhin). Plans include Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci(Metropolitan Opera).

Mr. Salvemini was Chorus Master of NCPA's Otello in 2013. 

Matteo Salvemini graduated in Choral Conducting and Choral Music; for orchestra conducting he was the student of P. Bellugi, I. Karabtschevskij and J. Panula. He also studied pianoforte and composition. 

He was the chorus master in important theatres like Arena Sferisterio of Macerata, Teatro delle Muse of Ancona, Teatro Rossini of Lugo di Romagna, and Teatro Petruzzelli of Bari. 

He was Chorus Master of the Chorus 'Euterpe' of Venice, Coro Veronese of Verona, Chorus Master of Piacenza, Chorus 'V.Bellini' of  Ancona, Lyric Chorus City of Rimini 'A. Galli'. 

For the 58^th Sagra Musicale Malatestiana, he conducted the First Violin Concerto of Lorenzo Perosi, with Sonig Tchakerian as soloist. 

He conducted in La Bohéme (2009), Tosca (2010), La traviata (2013), The Merry Widow (2014) for the Rimini New Year's Festival. In 2012 for the Opening of the 63^th Sagra Musicale Malatestiana, he performed the Dies Irae from Requiem of Verdi and Overture 1812 of Tchaikovsky. This year for the 65^th Sagra Musicale Malatestiana, he performed music by Haendel, Beethoven and Orff. 

Kamen Chanev, tenor, was born in Bulgaria. His repertoire includes the Duke in Rigoletto, Radames in Aida, Manrico in Il trovatore, the title role in Don Carlo, Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera (Verdi), the title role in Faust (Gounod), Werther (Massenet), Cavaradossi in Tosca, Calaf in Turandot, Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (Puccini), Don Jose in Carmen (Bizet), Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana (Mascagni), Canio in Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) and many others. He performs regularly at the Vienna Staatsoper as well as in the opera houses of Sofia, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Seoul, Palma de Mallorca, Amsterdam, Rome, Lisbon, Munich, Catania, Graz, Tokyo, Antwerp, Berlin, Dortmund, Beijing, Venice, Barcelona, Dublin, Frankfurt, Valencia, Budapest, Warsaw and many others. 

Warren Mok's NCPA appearances include Carmen, Die Fledermaus, La Boheme, The Chinese Orphan, Turandot and Der Fliegende Hollaender. 

In 2008, Mok was awarded Cavaliere dell' Ordine della Stella della Solitarita' Italiana from the Government of Italy, Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Government, in 2011 he just received the Medal of Honor from the Hong Kong Government. All awards honour his contribution to bring the cultural exchanges between Hong Kong, Italy & France, mainland China.  

Since his European debut in 1987 at the Deutsche Opera Berlin Mok has been making frequent guest appearances throughout the world, including Deutsche Opera Berlin, Paris Opera, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Opera Australia in Sydney Opera House, Teatro di Bologna Comunale, Teatro Carlo Felice Genova, Teatro Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Opera de Nice, Opera de Lyon, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, The Netherlands Opera, Leipzig Opera, Royal Danish Opera, Teatro di San Carlos Lisbon, Seattle Opera, Bolshoi Theatre, Warsaw Opera, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari in Italy, ABAO Bilbao, Opera Ireland, Teatro di Palma di Mallorca, Nancy Opera France, Bergen Opera Norway, Latvian National Opera, Lithuanian National Opera, Orlando Opera Florida, Hawaii Opera Theater, concert halls in New York's Carnegie Hall, London's Royal Albert Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Musik Verein, Tokyo Suntori Hall, Seoul, Prague and Zurich.

His operatic repertoire exceeds 60 roles including Calaf (Turandot), Cavaradossi (Tosca), Rodolfo (La Bohème), Don Jose(Carmen), Riccardo (Un Ballo in Maschara), Radames (Aida), Duke (Rigoletto), Alfredo (La Traviata), Don Carlos, Romeo, Faust, Werther, and many others. 

In 2009, he sang Ariadne auf Naxos at Teatro Carlo Felice, Manon Lescaut at Opera de Nice, Turandot at Savonlinna Opera Festival, La Bohème at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. In summer, he performed Tosca & Carmen at Caracalla with Teatro Dell’Opera di Roma. He also sang in famous Director Zhang Yimou's Turandot at the Olympic Stadium in Beijing. 

In 2010, he started the year to perform Adriana Lecouvreur in Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Tosca in Opera di Roma & Teatro Carlo Felice, Carmen in the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. He produced Manon & La Bohème with Opera Hong Kong, Il Trovatore in Macau International Music Festival, numerous Concerts/TV appearances in China. 

In 2011, He sang a world premiere opera Sun Yat Sen, Tosca in West Palm Beach Opera, in Guangzhou Opera House, Francesca da Rimini in Teatro Verdi Triete, Die Fledermaus at the National Centre for the Performing Arts Beijing, Turandot in Seoul Arts Centre. 

In 2012, He sang Wagner's Der Fliegende Hollander and Lohengrin at NCPA, producing Carmen & La Travaita with  Opera Hong Kong & Shanghai Opera House. He is the current Artistic Director of Opera Hong Kong & Macau International Music Festival. 

Amarilli Nizza wins the Mattia Battistini Competition at a very young age and debuted at the Teatro Flavio Vespasiano in Rieti which starred in Puccini's Madama Butterfly. In 2001, after a series of youth experiences, she began her career on the international scene. Her authoritative and flexible vocalism, supported by a solid and refined singing technique, nuanced phrasing and remarkable acting abilities, enable her to encompass a wide operatic repertoire. Her vocal gifts and dazzling appearance have made Amarilli Nizza one of the most acclaimed sopranos of her generation in the most prestigious Theatre and International Opera Festivals. Nizza has performed at major opera houses including Covent Garden London, Staatsoper Vienna , Fondazione Arena di Verona , Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro del Liceu di Barcellona, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Hamburg Staatsoper, Teatro Colon Buenos Aires, and Leipzig Opernhaus, among others. 

She has performed in NCPA productions of Turandot, Tosca, Der Fliegende Hollaender, Nabucco, Pagliacci, Norma and NCPA opera commission Rickshaw Boy.

Soprano Sun Xiuwei is Professor of Academy of Opera, Peking Univrsity.She studied with Professor Gao Zhilan and famous soprano Rita Orlandi-Malaspina in Milan, Italy. From 1994 to 1995, she won first prizes in six world class singing contests around the world within less than two years. In 1994, she began her opera career with her first singing engagement of G. Verdi's La Traviata at the Tokyo Opera House. She then sang in Norma, La Traviata, La Forza del Destino, Il Trovatore, Attila, Suor Angelica, Andrea Chenier, Il Corsaro, Macbeth, Turandot, Pagliacci, Requiem, Nabucco and so on. She also sang in Madama Butterfly by G. Puccini, and she has played more than three hundred performances of this opera around the world. She performed in opera houses in Roma, Bologna, Palermo, Trieste, Genova, Venice, Torre Di Lago, Catania in Italy, Berlin, Bonn and Carlsruhe in Germany, Nice in France; Zurich in Switzerland, Bilbao, Spain, Serbia, Washington, Los Angeles, Detroit, and Philadelphia in the United States. She worked with famous artists like Domingo, Gatti, and Nagano.

Ms. Sun has participated in the performance of NCPA opera films Nabucco with maestro Placido Domingo and Turandot with conductor Daniel Oren. She is one of the few Chinese sopranos that are much sought after in Europe. 

One of the greatest artists of his generation, versatile baritone, Alberto Gazale played over seventy leading roles on the world's prestigious concert stages and opera houses. His vast repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to DallaPiccola, with a particular attention to the late nineteenth century titles. 

Graduated at the Conservatory of Verona, he also specialized in the Verdian repertory with Carlo Bergonzi, his most important teacher. A winner of various international competitions, in 1998 he made his operatic debut in Un ballo in maschera at the Arena di Verona (season opening production). 

His careerhassincethantakenhim to many of the major opera houses and orchestrasaround the world, suchas Teatro alla Scala, WienerStaatsoper, Carnegie Hall of New York, Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Teatro Real in Madrid, Opernhaus in Zürich, Megaron in Athens, Opéra de Montecarlo, Liceu di Barcelona, New Israeli Opera di Tel Aviv, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Regio di Parma, Arena di Verona, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Regio di Torino, Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, with a repertoryincluding Attila, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Un Ballo in Maschera, Aida, Rigoletto, Macbeth, Otello, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Cavalleria Rusticana, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Faust and Werther. 

Regular guest at the Teatro alla Scala, he took part in several production including Macbeth, Rigoletto, Il Trovatore (opening Verdi Celebrations), Rigoletto, Madama Butterfly, Ulisse by Dalla Piccola, Andrea Chénier and Otello. 

At Wiener Staatsoper he performed such titles as La Traviata, Nabucco, La Forza del Destino and Tosca. 

He worked with suchconductorsas Gary Bertini Roberto Rizzi Brignoli, Riccardo Chailly, James Conlon, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Daniel Oren and Carlo Rizzi. 

Mr. Yuan's NCPA appearances include Rigoletto, Carmen, The Village Teacher, The Chinese Orphan, Nabucco and Aida.

Baritone Yuan Chenye's developed his craft as a member of the finest training programs in the business, including the Houston Grand Opera Studio and the San Francisco Opera's Merola Program. Mr. Yuan proved his mettle as an up and coming singer when performing the role of Germont in La Traviata with San Francisco Opera. Since being a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio he has been invited back to sing many roles including, Tonio in I Pagliacci, Escamillo in Carmen, Marcello in La Bohème, and Bhaer in Little Women which aired on PBS's Great Performances and released on CD by Ondine.

Mr. Yuan's clear and supple voice, matched with his facility to portray vastly different characters, have earned him international acclaim. For his Rigoletto with the Welsh National Opera, The Evening Herald described him as, '...outstanding in the title role, combining great vocal power with heartfelt emotion.' Mr. Yuan has put his stamp on this title role having performed it with Houston Grand Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Minnesota Opera, Lyric Opera of San Antonio, Sacramento Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Opera St. Louis, and the Welsh National Opera which was broadcast live on BBC.

In addition to performing with many of the United States and Canada's premiere Opera Houses and Symphonies, Mr. Yuan has favored the stage of many highly acclaimed venues stretching across Europe and Asia, including his native country China. Mr. Yuan is widely known for his compelling interpretations of the standard repertoire such as Mozart, Beethoven, Puccini and Verdi; however, this auspicious baritone is no stranger to the challenge of a world premiere. Mr. Yuan sang the Dragon King in the premiere Legend of Yao Ji. In Beijing, at the National Centre for the Performing arts, he showcased his seasoned artistry in the roles of Cheng Ying in Chinese Orphan and Zhou Luoping in A Village Teacher.

Mr. Yuan's schedule continues to be exciting, including upcoming performances of Marcello in La Bohème with the Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra and Chou En-Lai in Adams' Nixon in China with San Francisco Opera and at the Culture Center in Hong Kong, a role with which Mr. Yuan is especially familiar. 'Yuan sang Chou En-Lai with a gorgeous, burnished baritone, his poise bringing the mysterious figure to life.'(Kansas City Star)

Just a few of Mr. Yuan's symphony performances include: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with Singapore Symphony Orchestra, excerpts of Adams' Nixon in China with the Chicago Symphony and as a soloist in the Domingo Gala at Kennedy Center. 

Ms. Zhu's NCPA production apperances include Otello and Les Contes d'Hoffmann.

Zhu Huiling, an excellent mezzo-soprano opera performer, is the art director of the Hamburg Foundation of New-generation Artists. She has been awarded the doctor degree of opera performances by the the State University of Music and the Performing Arts Stuttgart. She once won scholarships from the Maecenas Foundation (Switzerland), Menuhin Foundation (Hamburg, Germany) and Oscar Vera Wright Classical Art Foundation. She once won the second place of the Nagasaki Music Festival, the third place of the Hamburg Mozart Opera Competition, the first place of the singing competition during the Timmendorfer Music Festival (Germany), the first prize of the Alicia Mayer Opera Competition (Germany), and the second prize of the Taev Opera Competition (Estonia). She has ever performed in the Grazer Oper (Austria), Linz Landestheater (Austria), Zurich Opera House, Basel Opera House, Stuttgart State Theatre, Berlin National Opera House, Estonian National Opera House, Helsinki Opera House, etc. She has ever sung many well-known roles such as Desdemona in Othello, Carmen, Maddalena and Contessa Ceprano in Rigoletto, Pamina in The Magic Flute, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Rheintochter in Das Rheingold, Flora in The Lady of the Camellias (La dame aux camellias), Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana, etc. Additionally, she has ever appeared in several concerts in Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, the Great Britain, USA, etc. 

Ms. Guo performed in Eugene Onegin produced by NCPA and Mariinsky Theatre.

Chinese American mezzo-soprano Guo Yanyu has already worked with many opera companies throughout Europe and the United States; including San Francisco Opera, Washington Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Opera Paris de Bastille, Goteborg Opera Sweden, Landestheater Salzburg, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Nationaltheater Weimar, Opera North Carolina, Connecticut Grand Opera, Staatstheater Braunschweig,  Saarlandisches Staatstheater, Staatstheater Freiburg, Theater Essen, Staatstheater Darmstadt, Theater Bielefeld, Theater Monchengladbach und Krefeld. She has performed with great success as Ortrud in Lohengrin, Amneris in Aida, Azucena in Il Trovatore, Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera, Fricka in Die Walküre and Das Rheingold, Waltraute in Gotterdommerung, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, and Mutter in Hansel und Gretel. Guo Yanyu has worked with conductors such as Maurizio Arena, Bruno Campanella, Edo de Waart, Charles Mackerras, Donald Runnicles, Nello Santi, Gerard Schwarz, Patrick Summers, John Fiore; Directors such as John Copley, Sonja Frisell, Michael Hampe, Lotfi Mansouri.

Her concert appearances include Jocasta in Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex at Alice Tully Hall with Robert Kraft; Verdi's Requiem with the New York Choral Society in Carnegie Hall; and Berlioz' Les Nuits d'été with Donald Runnicles and the San Francisco Chamber Symphony. Miss Guo has sung Verdi's Requiem, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Mahler's Third symphony in America, Germany and Taiwan.

After graduating from Beijing Central Conservatory where she studied with Professor Guo Shuzhen, Guo Yanyu received her Master's degree at the Eastman School of Music, USA. She also studied at the Juilliard School's American Opera Center. As an Adler fellow in San Francisco Opera's young artist program, Ms. Guo studied with world famous artists such as Marilyn Horne, Regine Crespin, and Hans Hotter. She also performed Ariodante in Ariodante and Pauline in Pique Dame at the San Francisco Opera. Also at San Francisco Opera Miss Guo stepped in for Frederica von Stade in the role of Penelope opposite Thomas Hampson in Michael Hampe's production of Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria, receiving critical acclaim.

Hou Honglan is a ballet artist, National-level Grade-A Performer, producer and choreographer. She is Vice Chairman of Sichuan Dancers Association, and Visiting Professor of Sichuan Dance School and Sichuan Art Vocational College. She has been awarded Gold Medal of the Fourth Luxembourg International Ballet Competition and Gold Award of the Fourth 'Taoli Cup' National Dance Competition of China. 

Hou Honglan was principal dancer of Ballet du Rhin and principal soloist of the National Ballet of China. She stars the title role in Red Detachment of Women and La Corsaire. She also plays the leading role in such repertoires as Raise the Red Lantern, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadere and Giselle.

Tamila is National-level Grade-A Performer and teacher of ballet and pas de deux in Dance Drama Department of the Central Academy of Drama, China. From 1990 to 2000, he was lead dancer of National Ballet of China. From 2001 to 2013, he was principal dance and ballet master of Atlanta Ballet, USA. He stars in such classical and modern ballet repertoires as Swan Lake, Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, La Corsaire, La Sylphide and Arabian Nights, among others.