LU Siqing Violinist
LU Siqing was the first Asian violinist to win the first prize in the prestigious Paganini International Violin Competition in Italy, 1987. Hailed by Strad as “an outstanding talent”, Siqing (pronounced See-Ching) has given performances in more than 40 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and South Africa. Those performances have taken him to some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, including Musikverein in Vienna, Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York City, Hollywood Bowl Theatre in Los Angeles, Southam Hall at National Arts Centre in Ottaw, Maison Symphonique and Place des Arts in Montreal, Royal Opera House and Wigmore Hall in London, Theatre Des Champs Elysees and Louis XIV Opera House at Palace of Versailles in Paris, The Great Hall in Moscow, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Hamer Hall at the Arts Centre in Melbourne, Esplanade in Singapore, and National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. LU Siqing has shared stages with many of the world’s esteemed musicians, including Lorin Maazel, Valery Gergiev, Edo de Waart, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Lawrence Foster, Jaap van Zweden, Osmo Vänskä, as well as leading Chinese musicians such as YU Long, LÜ Jia, TANG Muhai, Shao-Jia Lü, Wen-Bin Jian, Chao-Liang Lin, Yujia Wang, WANG Jian, and Oscar winner TAN Dun, with whom Siqing premiered his violin concerto Hero in Poland in 2011.
LU Siqing has performed with some of today’s leading orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, Bilbao Symphony, Salzburg Chamber Orchestra, Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Russia National Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra of the NCPA, China Philharmonic Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, among others. Furthermore, LU Siqing has been regularly featured as guest artist at many of the world’s most renowned music festivals. He was appointed the Music Director of the May International Festival of National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing in 2015, and has been invited to serve as a distinguished juror for many international violin competitions including the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin International Youth Violin Competition. In fall 2016, he founded LU Siqing Shenzhen Futian International String Festival, inviting several internationally recognized string performers and professors to create this high-level classical music festival in China. Apart from an active soloist on stage globally, LU Siqing is also dedicated to chamber music. In 2012, he founded the China Trio with two other renowned musicians: cellist Li-Wei Qin and pianist SUN Yingdi. The trio has quickly become the most well-known chamber group in China.
LU Siqing has released over 20 CDs and video recordings under such labels as Philips, Naxos, Marco Polo, and BIS. His interpretation of Butterfly Lovers violin concerto has been widely considered the best among more than 40 available recordings of this work.
Over the past decades, LU Siqing has received numerous international honours due to his prominent artistic achievement and extensive social influence, including Honorary Certificate from the United States House of Representatives, New Jersey's Outstanding Arts Achievement award for Asian, California Senate Honorary Certificate, Honorary Certificate from the California Executive Committee of the House on multiple occasions, the Montblanc Outstanding Artist Award, China Youth Magazine's “The 100 Most Influential Young People of the 21st Century in China” award, etc. The City of Millbrae in California passed a legislation to have the date September 16th of 2006 designated as LU Siqing Day in honour of LU Siqing's achievements. Over the years, Siqing has also been invited on numerous occasions to play for Heads of the state from many countries.
LU Siqing was born in 1969 in Qingdao, China. He began to study violin at the age of four. As an eight-year-old child, he became the youngest student ever to be admitted by the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing as a special talented student and studied with Prof. WANG Zhenshan. At the age of 11, Lord Yehudi Menuhin chose Siqing to study at his school in London. In 1984 he returned to China for advanced studies at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Five years later, he went to the Juilliard School and studied with Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang. In addition to the Paganini First Prize, LU Siqing was a winner of numerous international competitions, including those in Beijing, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
ZHANG Haochen Pianist
Since his gold medal win at the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009, 26-year-old Chinese pianist ZHANG Haochen has captivated audiences in the United States, Europe, and Asia with a unique combination of deep musical sensitivity, fearless imagination and spectacular virtuosity.
He has already appeared with many of the world’s leading festivals and concert series and his performance of Liszt’s Concerto No. 1 at the BBC Proms with YU Long and the China Philharmonic has received rave reviews, "He made the Allegretto dance with Mendelssohnian lightness and Lisztian diablerie, and played the melody of the Quasi Adagio with melting softness." Ivan Hewitt, The Telegraph.
A popular guest soloist for many orchestras in China, Haochen made his debut in Munich with the Munich Philharmonic and the late maestro Lorin Maazel in April 2013, preceding their sold-out tour. Haochen has also toured in China with the Sydney Symphony and David Robertson, in Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai with the NDR Hamburg and Thomas Hengelbrock and following a performance in December 2014 with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra in Beijing, Mo. Gergiev immediately invited him to his Easter Festival in Moscow, Russia.
Highlights of the 16/17 season has included a new recital CD, released by BIS in February, which included works of Schumann, Brahms, Janacek and Liszt; extensive recital and concerto tours in Asia with performances in China and Japan; return engagements with Philadelphia Orchestra, Osaka Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony and the Pacific Symphony Orchestras. Haochen has also given recitals in San Francisco, Palma de Malloca, Imola, Helsingborg, among others. He made his debuts with the RTV Slovenia and Asturias Symphony Orchestras, and toured Europe with the Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra having been their resident artist in the previous season.
In past seasons, ZHANG Haochen has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, LA Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, London Symphony, Japan Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony and Hong Kong Philharmonic orchestras. In recital he has performed at Spivey Hall, La Jolla Music Society, Celebrity Series of Boston, CU Artist Series, Cliburn Concerts, Krannert Center, Wolf Trap Discovery Series, Lied Center of Kansas and UVM Lane Series, among others. International tours have taken him to cities including Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Berlin, Munich, Paris, Dresden, Rome, Tivoli, Verbier, Montpellier, Helsingborg, Bogota and Belgrade. Haochen is also an avid chamber musician, collaborating with colleagues such as the Shanghai String Quartet, Benjamin Beilman and is frequently invited by chamber music festivals in the US.
Haochen’s performances at the Cliburn Competition were released to critical acclaim by Harmonia Mundi in 2009. He is also featured in Peter Rosen’s award-winning documentary chronicling the 2009 Cliburn Competition, A Surprise in Texas.
Haochen is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studied under Gary Graffman. He was previously trained at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Shenzhen Arts School, where he was admitted in 2001 at the age of 11 to study with Professor DAN Zhaoyi.
ZHANG Hongyan Pipa Performing Artist
ZHANG Hongyan is a Pipa player and educator. At the age of seven, she began to learn to play Pipa. She ever studied under the tutelage of ZHANG Shijun, SUN Weixi and LIN Shicheng.
In 2011, she kicked off her personal music season, and held four different concerts of solo, ensemble, chamber music and concerto within one week.
This musician, who calls herself a “Pipa Traveler”, has visited more than 30 countries across Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Africa and Oceania. She used to perform in cooperation with more than 40 conductors (such as ZHENG Xiaoying, CHEN Zuhuang, TANG Muhai, LÜ Jia, SHAO En, YU Long, Thomas Sleeper from the US, Aaron Gottfried from Israel and Valery Gergiev from Russia), as well as China Philharmonic Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra, The Macau Orchestra, Bavarian Symphony Orchestra, Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra, Miami Symphony Orchestra, Brazil National Symphony Orchestra, South Korea National Symphony Orchestra, The Mariinsky Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. She performs at world-famous Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Goldener Saal Wiener Musikverein, The Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall, Suntory Hall of Japan, etc.
YU Hongmei Erhu Performing artist
YU Hongmei is a famous Erhu performing artist and an educator. She serves as the Professor, Doctoral Advisor and Director of the Traditional Instruments Department of CCOM. And she also serves as Vice Head of Huqin Specialty Committee of China National Orchestra Society, Guest Soloist of China National Traditional Orchestra and Guest Professor of Canada-based University of Calgary.
YU early graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music (Master’s Degree), under the tutorlage of Professors SU Anguo, ZHANG Shao, LAN Yusong and LIU Changfu. She got the Pro Musicis International Award in New York, USA. Her album Erhu Concertos by YU Hongmei won the 4th China “Golden Album Award.” The album Obsession with Erhu even obtained “the Award for Best Worldwide National Music” at Indie Awards. Her solo album Reverie of Red Plum Blossoms obtained the 1st Award at the 1st National Excellent Literary and Art Videos Ceremony. What’s more, she held her solo concert at the Carnegie Hall in February 2002. She has also won many awards, including the 1st Award for “Excellent Young Teacher” at the 10th Award Ceremony by Fok Ying Tung Education Fund (2015), “Teacher Awards” twice at the “Wenhua Cup” China National Instrumental Music Competition (2012, 2014), as well as the “National Project of Four Batches of Talents" Award (2014).
YU has toured around Europe, America, Africa and Asia. And she held over 100 solo concerts, making appearance at music venues such as Goldener Saal Wiener Musikvereins, Avery Fisher Hall of the Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées à Paris, the Concert Hall in the KKL Luzern and Concertgebouw, Cairo National Music Hall.
She has also debuted many Erhu works, including Nostalgic Dreams of Beijing, Eight Verses, Divine Fragrance, The Sound of Strings beyond the Great Wall. She attended domestic/international pageants like China Art Festival, Beijing International Music Festival, China Shanghai International Arts Festival, Macao Arts Festival, Chinese Culture's Trip to USA, Chinese Culture's Trip to Australia and New Zealand, Seoul International Computer Music Festival, Prague Spring International Music Festival and German Music Festival. In 2012, she founded “Shengfeng National Chamber Orchestra,” which won the Overall Champion at the CCTV National Instrumental Music Competition and the Golden Award at the 9th China “Golden Bell” Ceremony.
YAN Weiwen Tenor
Graduating from the postgraduate courses of China Conservatory of Music, YAN Weiwen, the tenor singer of the Central Military Commission Political Work Department Song and Dance Ensemble, currently serves as the visiting professor and national vocal music masters’ instructor in China Conservatory of Music and director of Chinese Musician’s Association. He has won The 2nd National Young and Middle-aged Smashing Artist awarded by the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the CPC, Ministry of Labour and Personnel and China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and the honorary title of smashing “Famous Mater” awarded by the original General Political Department. As the national Level 1 actor and current member of the 12th CPPCC National Committee, he enjoys the special allowances of the State Council.
The songs such as Little Poplar, A Word in Heart, One, Two, Three, Four Song, When Being Homesick, Toast, Friends, Mother, When Your Hair Brushes My Gun and Battle Song of Strengthening Army, which were first sung by him, have won universal praise and are widely sung. In order to develop and expand the folk song culture, he has devoted himself to collecting, sorting, and transcribing YAN Weiwan’s Chinese Folk Song and Love Song Series in recent over 10 years. He also published and distributed the albums of The Western Regions Love Songs, Loess Love Songs, Red Earth Love Songs, Solider Love Songs, Black Earth Love Songs, Red Love Songs, etc.
He has insisted on going deep into the troops and grass roots all the time to perform for the army officials and soldiers and the people heartily and his footprints have extended all over China. He also gave performances during the fight against the flood in 1998, fight against SARS, and Wenchuan and Yushu earthquakes. He is praised as a “singer for soldiers” by the army officers and soldiers.
In 2011, he successfully held the large-scale concert Gun · Rose, and successfully starred the films Rishengchang in the Wind and Rain and Legend of FENG Menglong.
WANG Chong Tenor
NCPA Resident Artist
Tenor WANG Chong has performed a number of roles in NCPA opera productions, including the Messenger (Aida, a concert version co-produced with New National Theatre, Tokyo), the Steersman (Der Fliegende Hollaender), Flavio (Norma), Dr. Caius (Falstaff), and Rodolfo (Guglielmo Tell). An alumnus of the 2014 Merola Opera Programme, WANG Chong is a first-year San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow. He performed with the Merola Opera Programme excerpts as Goro (Madama Butterfly), Don José (Carmen), and the Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto).
JIN Zhengjian Tenor
NCPA Resident Artist
JIN Zhengjian has played Gaston in NCPA opera La dame aux Camellias. He is a tenor, opera actor of the China Opera and Dance Drama Company and a Chinese national class-A actor.
During his study in the Master Class of Wolfgang International Art Festival, he won the Award for Outstanding Student and the praise from Cheista Ludwig and James Levine. Since 2008, sponsored by the French government, he has studied systematically classical operas of France, such as Le Roi d'Yis, Faust and Romeo and Juliet, under the Artistic Director Robert Gonnella, and won the praise from the famous French conductor Michel Plasson.
In 2000, he won the Silver Award for Team Competition at the CCTV "BBG Cup" Young Singers Competition and the Silver Award for Individuals (Professional) at the "Lark Cup" competition.
He has participated in many operas, including the original Chinese operas The Wild, Farewell, My Concubine, Farewell to Cambridge Again, Song of Youth, Imperial Concubine YANG, Romance of Rawap, Mourning, Farewell to My Concubine, Year of Dragon in Tangshan, WU Guniang, The Injustice Done to DOU E; Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde; French operas Le Roi d'Yi, Turandot, The Magic Flute, The Abduction from the Seraglio, The Bartered Bride, Lucia of Lammermoor, La dame aux Camellias, Rigoletto and Candide, etc. He has worked with famous orchestras including China National Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra, symphonic orchestra and Chinese music orchestra of the China Opera and Dance Drama Company, China National Opera House Symphony Orchestra, China Film Symphony Orchestra, China Youth Symphony Orchestra, Chinese Music Orchestra of the China Broadcasting Performing-arts Troupe, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra. Moreover, he has acted as soloist and leading singer in many major performing events such as Handel's oratorio Messiah.
ZHOU Xiaolin Soprano
NCPA Resident Artist
Soprano ZHOU Xiaolin's roles in NCPA's productions include YANG Caihong in A Village Teacher, Mimi in La Bohème, Micaela in Carmen, Violetta in La Traviata, Leonora in Il Trovatore, Princess Zhuangji in The Chinese Orphan, and Antonia/Stella in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, and Huniu in Rickshaw Boy.
ZHOU Xiaolin graduated from Central Conservatory of Music where she has studied with YANG Xiaoping. She is a soloist of PLA's General Political Department Song and Dance Troupe. In 2007, she won recognition in the training programme run by the Central City Opera House (Colorado, U.S.), and received the full scholarship. She was also invited to participate in the world premiere of Poet LI Bai composed by Chinese composer GUO Wenjing. It is worth mentioning that she succeeded in holding recitals in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan and won an award in Neue Stimmen International Singing Competition, came in first and won Anna and John J Sie award in Carlo Bergorzi Maestro Class, the golden prize in China Gold Bell Award Bel Canto Group and the second prize in Wenhua Vocal Competition awarded by Ministry of Culture.
She performed as the soprano soloist in Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with German Philharmonic Orchestra during its China tour, in Beethoven Symphony No. 9 conducted by Lorin Maazel as a soprano cantor and in Mahler's Symphony No. 2 conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy as the soprano cantor.
LI Xintong Soprano
NCPA Resident Artist
She has starred in the NCPA opera commissions The Long March, The Dawns Here Are Quiet, FANG Zhimin, A Village Teacher, Rickshaw Boy and The Fisherman and the Goldfish, and played in the NCPA opera productions Carmen, Le Nozze di Figaro, L’Italiana in Algeri, Il Trovatore, William Tell, Die lustige Witwe, Der Rosenkavalier, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Nabucco and Rusalka.
Now she is an opera actress at NCPA. Graduating from Department of Vocal Music & Opera, Central Conservatory of Music, she then took up advanced studies in New England Conservatory of Music, and graduated with a Master’s degree in Vocal Music Pedagogy. She played the female lead TIAN Xiao’e in the opera White Deer Plain and the female lead FAN Yi in Thunderstorm. She also starred in the Western operas A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Il Tabarro and Turandot, etc. She won the second prize in the NATS Competition, and the second prize in the 5th Madama Butterfly Vocal Competition in Japan.
YANG Yanting Mezzo-soprano
YANG Yanting has sung Flora in NCPA opera La Traviata.
She was awarded the excellent prize in the China section of Bellini International Vocal Competition, and the third prize of the 11th Hebei TV Youth Singers Competition.
ZHANG Zhuo Mezzo-soprano
Guest mezzo-soprano of China Opera and Dance-Drama Theatre. Her NCPA appearance include
The Chinese Orphan (Maishu)
, Le Cenerentola (Tisbe),
Carmen (Mercedes)
, Gianni Schicchi (La Ciesca), and
Le Nozze di Figaro (Marcellina).
Ms. ZHANG received her Master's degree in musicology and vocal music. She is a member of Youth Association of Chongqing and Youth Association of Hunan Province, and also a special expert of NCPA opera-curious cultivation schools.
Ms. ZHANG has been the winner of many national and international prizes and awards, including the Golden Bell Award and the Best Lied Performance Award of the Neue Stimmen International Singing Competition in Germany. She was invited to the summer festival of YLE Finland and was claimed a "rare artist of China" in their coverage. In August 2011, with the appointment of the Central Committee of China Communist Youth League, she went to Japan for a friendly visit with the Chinese youth delegation and received public attention and acclaim. Teresa Berganza, the famous Spanish vocalist praised her as "an artist who sings from the heart and her performance is touching and charming."
ZHANG Yang Baritone
NCPA Resident Artist
ZHANG Yang has sung in the NCPA opera productions of Andre Chenier, Simon Boccanegra and The Dawns Here Are Quiet, FANG Zhimin, La Gioconda, Carmen, Le Nozze di Figaro and Turandot. Graduating from People's Liberation Army Academy of Art and Conservatorio Arrigo Boito di Parma of Italy, ZHANG is a baritone of the National Centre for the Performing Arts of China. He learned opera from Mirella Flenia, the world-class pop diva and baritones Alexander Korbailey and QU Bo. He won the First Award in the Anita cerqueti International Vocal Competition held in Italy, and the First Award in the Italian Modena Cubec International Vocal Master Class. He participated in operas Le Nozze di Figaro, La boheme and Falstaff. He has collaborated with Teatro Regio di Parma. In 2013, he graduated from the Conservatorio Arrigo Boito di Parma, and participated in the Verdi Opera Concert in the year.
WANG Haitao Baritone
NCPA Resident Artist
He is the winner of the Excellent Performance Award of China’s First Opera Festival and Ministry of Culture Excellent Repertoire Performance as well as the Karajan Prize of Karajan Centre in Vienna, Austria. He was invited by the former president of Wiener Staatsoper Ioan Holender to sign with this theatre. And he also received invitations from the director of Bregenzer Festspiele to sign with this music festival and to sign with Opera and Ballet Theatre of Czech Republic. He won the first place in the 7th International Operation Competition with Joan Sutherland as chairman of the jury. He has also won many awards in the international and domestic vocal music competitions such as Neue Stimmen in 1997, the 30th Dr. Luis Sigall as well as the first National Vocal Music Competition and the 7th National Young Singer TV Competition.
CHANG Qiuyue as a female role in Chinese opera
CHANG Qiuyue is an excellent performer from Jingju Theatre Company of Beijing. She studied under teachers such as SUN Yumin, CUI Rongying, CHEN Yongling, ZHAO Yanxia, WU Suqiu, HUANG Shaohua and LIU Changyu. She excels at playing repertoire including The Matchmaker, The Story of SU San, DU Shiniang, etc.
DU Zhenjie as an old gentleman
As a Chinese first-class actor, DU Zhenjie is a leading actor of Jingju Theater Company of Beijing, famous for playing the part of an old gentleman in Chinese operas. He graduated from the 3rd Postgraduate Programme of Chinese Peking Opera at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts. He is also a director of Beijing Theatre Association and a representative inheritor of Peking Opera, an intangible cultural heritage item of Beijing, enjoying the special government allowance of the State Council for experts.
DU once studied under LIU Shengtong, SONG Jiting, WANG Shixu, LI Shilin, TAN Yuanshou, CHI Jinsheng, MA Chongren, BAI Yuanming, MA Changli, LI Fuchun and other famous Peking Opera masters and teachers. He has performed a large number of plays of MA, YANG, TAN and YU schools as well as newly-adapted historical plays, including Village of Pearl Curtain, Silang Visits His Mother, The Red Haired Galloping Horse, Dragon and Phoenix Bringing Prosperity, Dingjun Mountain, Three Stores, San Jia Dian, Famen Temple, Hongyang Cave, Defending the Nation · Exploring Imperial Mausoleum ·Entering the Palace a Second Time, Spring and Autumn Pen and WU Zixu.
He was granted the first Best Actor Award of the National Television Grand Prix for Peking Opera Performers and the 22nd Plum Performance Award of China, etc.
ZHANG Xinyue as a female role
ZHANG Xinyue is an excellent young actress of Jingju Theatre Company of Beijing, specialized in playing female role of MEI school. She graduated from the 4th Postgraduate Programme of Chinese Peking Opera, once studied under MEI Baojiu, JIANG Fengshan, ZHANG Chunqiu, YANG Qiuling, LIU Xiurong, LI Weikang, SONG Danju, TANG Xiaomei and other masters. In 1997, she studied under the well-known Peking Opera performing artists MEI Baojiu and JIANG Fengshan. ZHANG is good at performing such plays as XIE Yaohuan, MU Guiying Takes Command, The Drunken Concubine, Xishi, Return of the Phoenix and The Red Lantern. She once won the gold award of Peking Opera at 2003 China New Art Talents Contest, the second prize of 2004 Collective Show of Excellent Young Peking Opera Performers sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, and the gold award of 2008 CCTV Grand Prix for Young Peking Opera Performers.
FANG Xu as a male character with a painted face
FANG Xu is an excellent young actor of Jingju Theater Company of Beijing, specialised in playing male character of QIU school. He graduated from the 5th Postgraduate Program of Chinese Peking Opera at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts. He once studied under MENG Guanglu, DENG Muwei and other famous masters. In 2009, he studies under MENG Guanglu, a celebrated Peking Opera performing artist. FANG is good at performing such plays as Defending the Nation · Exploring Imperial Mausoleum · Entering the Palace a Second Time, QIN Xianglian, Meeting the Empress, Beating the Imperial Robe, General and Premier Make Up, Five Dragons Subdued and Stealing an Imperial Horse. He once won the gold award of 2008 National TV Grand Prix for Young Peking Opera Performers.
YANG Shaopeng as an old gentleman
YANG Shaopeng is a national first-class actor of Jingju Theater Company of Beijing, famous for playing the part of an old gentleman in Chinese operas. He graduated from the Postgraduate Program for Excellent Young Actors of Chinese Peking Opera. He was the winner of Excellent Performance Award of the CCTV National Grand Prix for Young Peking Opera Performers, also a member of the committee of Beijing Youth Federation. He learned the plays of YANG school from his father YANG Naipeng, such as Losing Jieting · Empty-city Stratagem · Executing MA Su, WU Zixu and Beating a Drum to Curse CAO. In 1998, YANG was admitted to Tianjin Art School and graduated from it in 1995. In the same year, he was admitted to the Undergraduate Program of the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts and studied under DING Zhenchun and MA Yuzhang. YANG played Mei Jian Chi in the play Love and Hatred in Sword-casting in 1998, LIU Yong in Prime Minister LIU the Hunchback in 2001, and GUO Jianguang in Shajiabang in 2002. In the same year, he was admitted to the 3rd Postgraduate Programme for Excellent Young Actors of Chinese Peking Opera at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts. He won the Excellent Performance Award of Beijing Young Performers Appraisal Show on March 1, 1998, the first prize of the Collective Show of Excellent Young Peking Opera Performers sponsored by the Ministry of Culture in January 2001, and the Best Performance Award at the CCTV National Grand Prix for Young Performers on May 12th, 2001.