China NCPA Chorus
China NCPA Chorus is the resident chorus of National Centre for the Performing Arts.
China NCPA Chorus was established on December 8th, 2009. WU Lingfen, the famous conductor in China, serves as its chorus master. As the professional performing group that belongs to the highest palace of performing arts in China, the chorus adheres to the NCPA's guiding principle of "for the people, for art, for the world" and is recognized as a vigorous professional chorus with infinite potential.
During the process of its growth in the past eight years, names of many most outstanding artistic masters in today's world have been observed, including famous directors Francesca Zambello, Giancarlo del Monaco, Hugo de Ana, CHEN Xinyi, CAO Qijing, LIAO Xianghong, YI Liming, LI Liuyi and TIAN Qinxin; famous conductors Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Daniel Oren, Myung-whun Chung, Jaap van Zweden, Antonio Pappano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, YAN Liangkun, YANG Hongnian, LÜ Jia, ZHANG Guoyong, LI Xincao, ZHENG Jian and YANG Li; famous singers Plácido Domingo, Leo Nucci, Inva Mula, Juan Pons, Brandon Jovanovich, Francesco Meli, YAN Weiwen, DAI Yuqiang, WEI Song, Warren Mok, YUAN Chenye, LIAO Changyong, ZHANG Yalun, ZHANG Liping, Dilbèr, SUN Xiuwei, HE Hui, YANG Guang and Liang LI. The masters have given high appraisals to the chorus. The world famous tenor Domingo said, "I am honoured to cooperate with these gifted young artists"; the late conductor Lorin Maazel said, "It is a Chorus of passion"; conductor Daniel Oren, who was excited after rehearsal, said, "This is the chorus that has the best sound I have ever heard. Young as they are, they are better than many of the choruses in Europe"; conductor Antonio Pappano said, "This is a youthful and passionate chorus that has been well-trained to sound wonderful and harmonious."
As one of China's leading choruses both in the orchestra pit and concert hall, the NCPA Chorus brings to life fresh and vivid operatic characters one after another with their lavishly expressive singing and passionate theatrical performance, playing an active role in pushing forward the artistic production of National Centre for the Performing Arts. Since its establishment, it has participated in more than 50 operas by NCPA such as opera commissions Xishi, A Village Teacher, The Chinese Orphan, The Beautiful Blue Danube, The Ballad of Canal, Rickshaw Boy, Visitors on the Snow Mountain, Sunrise, The Dawns Here Are Quiet, FANG Zhimin, The Long March, Jinsha River, LAN Huahua and Effendi, and Chinese and foreign classic operas such as The White-Haired Girl, The Red Guards on Honghu Lake, Turandot, Carmen, La Traviata, L'Elisir d'Amore, Tosca, Die Fledermaus, Der Fliegende Holländer, Un Ballo in Maschera, Lohengrin, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Otello, Nabucco, Le Nozze di Figaro, L'Italiana in Algeri, Il Trovatore, Cavalleria Rusticana & I Pagliacci, Norma, Don Pasquale, Aida, Rigoletto, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Eugene Onegin, Andrea Chenier, Der Rosenkavalier, Simon Boccanegra, Samson et Dalilah, La Gioconda, Tannhäuser, Macbeth, Rusalka, Lucia di Lammermoor, Tristan und Isolde and Falstaff. Its artistic attainments have won favourable comments from the insiders and audiences.
Apart from operas, the chorus has also planned and performed in many large-scale vocal works and theme concerts including Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Mahler's Second, Third and Eighth Symphonies, Verdi's Requiem, and Concert to Commemorate the 110th Anniversary of HUANG Zi's Birth, the opera concerts such as William Tell, Don Juan and many state-level performances including large-scale music and dance epic Road to Rejuvenation, Victory and Peace – Evening Gala to Commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Victory of the World Anti-fascist War and the Counter-Japanese War of the Chinese People, Evening Gala for the G20 Hangzhou Summit, the Gala Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Victory of the Long March and the Gala "Millennial Road" for the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. The chorus makes more audiences to understand more of its charm and the artistic spirit of its unremitting efforts.
As the singing envoy of zeitgeist, the chorus has paid much attention to fostering the audience, supporting and participating in the artistic education and popularization activities of the NCPA. It plans and participates in the NCPA's Weekend Concert series, Classic Art Lectures series, and appears in more than 40 public benefit events held in schools, communities, enterprises, military camps and hospitals every year to help popularize elegant art, so as to improve people's aesthetic tastes. Meanwhile, the chorus commits itself to introducing the NCPA's artistic productions and outstanding classic works to audiences at home and abroad. It participated in the tour of the NCPA's opera Visitors on the Snow Mountain in seven provinces and municipalities across China, opera commission FANG Zhimin's tour in Jiangxi Province, opera The Long March’s tour in Nanjing as part of the 3rd China Opera Festival and has visited foreign countries, such as Singapore, South Korea, Japan and China’s Hong Kong and Macao for exchanges. The chorus's performances have been critically acclaimed by the audiences and local counterparts. Especially in 2015, the chorus went with the NCPA to Italy for a 17-day tour of the opera Rickshaw Boy to tremendous success, demonstrating rich musical expressions of the chorus.
Beijing, in the new century, is full of the prosperous atmosphere of elegant art. The young artists of the chorus devote their most vigorous and dynamic youth to the cause of China's opera, and strive for dream and art!