DENG Jiandong is a world-renowned contemporary erhu player and educator, national first-class performer of the Art Troupe of the Political Department of the PLA Air Force, and recipient of the special allowance from the State Council. He is a director of the Chinese Musicians’ Association, Executive Vice-president of the Erhu Society of the Chinese Musicians’ Association, and visiting professor at the Central Conservatory of Music, China Conservatory of Music and Renmin University of China.

He has won first prize in the first Beijing National Erhu Invitational Competition and the sixth China Gold Record Award. In 2012, he was selected as one of the “China’s Top Ten Young Erhu Performers” by CCTV. In 2017, he was awarded the title of Outstanding Folk Music Performer at the sixth China Music Forum. He has been a member of the jury in numerous national erhu competitions, including the “Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music”, “Wenhua Award” and “CCTV Chinese Instrumental Music Competition”. His works such as Early Spring in Suzhou, The Wu Tune and The Charm of Grassland (in collaboration) have won many major awards in China. He has premiered such classic works as The First Erhu Rhapsody, The Second Erhu Rhapsody, The Third Erhu Rhapsody and the Qiao’s Grand Courtyard Suite with many famous orchestras both at home and abroad.

DENG Jiandong is active on the international and domestic music scene. He has been described by experts as “an outstanding erhu player who combines tradition and modernity, as well as academicism and folk art.”

YANG Xuefei is acclaimed as one of the world’s finest classical guitarists. She was hailed as a musical pioneer. Xuefei was the first-ever guitarist in China to enter a music school, and became the first internationally recognised Chinese guitarist on the world stage. Her first public appearance was at the age of ten and received such acclaim that the Spanish Ambassador in China presented her with a concert guitar. Her debut in Madrid at the age of 14 was attended by the composer Joaquín Rodrigo and, when John Williams heard her play, he gave two of his own instruments to Beijing’s Central Conservatoire especially for her and other advanced students.

Xuefei was born in Beijing, and is a graduate of Beijing’s Central Conservatoire of Music, and went on to become the first Chinese musician to receive a full scholarship for postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she received the Principal’s Prize on completion of her postgraduate study.

Her international success has led her to be invited to play in more than 50 countries at numerous prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall, all Southbank venues, and Royal Albert Hall in London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Vienna, Auditorio Nacional de Espana, Barcelona Auditorium, Carnegie Hall & Lincoln Centre New York. In Asia she has appeared at the Concert Hall Taipei, Hong Kong City Hall & Cultural Centre, Esplanade Singapore, Seoul Arts Centre and gave the first guitar recital and concerto in the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Xuefei has also been invited to perform at major music festivals such as BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival, Shanghai MISA Festival and the Beijing international Music Festival. In 2003 she performed 54 concerts for the “Night of the Proms” Tour, appearing in Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany, to a total audience of over 800,000 people.

Xuefei is frequently invited to play with the world’s leading orchestras including Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Scotland National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Orchestra, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, China Philharmonic. Xuefei’s recent highlights include return performances with English Chamber Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Wintertour Philharmonic, debut performances with Beijing Symphony Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra giving the Asian premier of the The Albeniz Concerto written for Xuefei by Stephen Goss, and an Australian tour with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra which marked the Australian premier of Tan Dun’s guitar concerto, performance in BBC Proms with Ulster Orchestra, and performance with Orchestre National de France on Bastille Day.

Gramophone magazine praised Xuefei as one of the leading innovators of her generation for continuing to build the guitar repertoire. Xuefei is committed to commissioning new works and making her own arrangements, with a particular interest in adding Chinese music and chamber music, many of which have appeared on her recordings.

Xuefei has made many albums including several acclaimed recordings for EMI Classics and Decca. Her first recording received a gold disc & her second was selected as “Editor’s Choice” in Gramophone magazine. Several of the recordings reflect Xuefei’s interest in expanding the repertoire. A concerto album recorded with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Eiji Oue, featuring Rodrigo’s Concerto de Aranjuez & Goss’ Albeniz Concerto. Another recording of “Bach Concertos” featured Xuefei’s innovative transcriptions of solo works and concertos by J.S. Bach. Xuefei has released two albums in 2016, her solo album Colours of Brazil and Heartstrings which continue her successful performance on diverse musical styles. In 2018, DG released the duet album Milonga Del Angel by Xuefei and HUANG Mengla. The album Sketches of China released by Decca in August 2020 presents the Chinese music in various forms. It aims to promote Chinese culture and develops repertoire for guitar. The album Sketches of China has been highly praised worldwidely. In May 2022, Xuefei’s recording Magna Carta including the complete works for guitar by composer John Brunning has been released - the album features her recording alongside the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, with a special guest appearance from star cellist Johannes Moser and hit highly on both the USA Billboard charts and UK official charts. Released by Decca in November 2022, her latest solo album Guitar Favourites featured a collection of much-loved guitar works known to classical guitar lovers around the world.

In 2022/23 Season, Xuefei tours in China, Europe, America and Australia, giving recitals and chamber concerts in Macao, Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Bath, Cardiff, Adelaide, Antwerp, Milan, Baltimore, San Francisco among others and performs with Armenia State Symphony Orchestra, and London Philharmonic Orchestra in London.

Xuefei is one of the few guitarists whose artistry connect with audiences far beyond the guitar fraternity. She collaborates with an eclectic range of artists: classical musicians such as WANG Jian, Ian Bostridge, Rosalind Plowright, Sir James Galway, Elias String Quartet & the Heath Quartet; cross-over artist David Garrett, pop musicians LI Jian, Leo Ku and Eason Chan. Xuefei has also appeared on numerous radio and television programmes including BBC Radio 4’s Woman's Hour, the BBC Proms, a BBC documentary The Story of Guitar, and China Central Television, who made a biographical documentary of Xuefei. From 2015 she is honoured to be the artistic director of Changsha International Guitar Festival

The UK classical music magazine, Classic FM, named Xuefei as one of the 100 top classical musicians of our time. And she made the list of top 6 classical guitarists in BBC Music Magazine. In recognition of her distinguished career, Xuefei was awarded “Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Music” in June 2012. Xuefei continues to be ambassador and role model for guitar in China.

ZHAO Ling is a member of the NCPA Drama Ensemble. He has starred in NCPA dramas A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, King Lear, The Merchant of Venice, The Birds, The Tempest, The Lei Family, the Royal Architects and Jane Eyre. After graduating from the People’s Liberation Army Academy of Art with a degree in Theatre, Film and TV Acting, he worked as an actor at the Modern Drama Troupe of General Political Department and acted in many dramas, of which Baptism won many awards throughout the country and army. He has played a leading role in a number of TV plays, such as Live on with Smiles, The Senior Colonel’s Daughter and The Gift of the Magi. He has dubbed Jack Dawson in Titanic 3D, superman in Man of Steel and Prince Guo in Legend of Concubine Zhen Huan. More than 10 radio plays starring him, including Red Banderole, won the “Five-One” Project Award by Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China. His lead roles in TV plays such as Ties between Hearts and The Teacher won him an International Award by the Asia-pacific Broadcasting Union. In 2013, he won the 13^rd Best Actor Award for radio plays by the Radio Drama Society of China.

Since his gold medal win at the 13^th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009, 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. In 2017, Haochen received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, which recognizes talented musicians with the potential for a major career in music.

Haochen has already appeared with many of the world’s leading festivals and orchestras including the BBC Proms with YU Long and the China Philharmonic; the Munich Philharmonic with the late Lorin Maazel in a sold-out tour in Munich and China; the Easter Festival in Moscow by special invitation of Maestro Valery Gergiev; the Sydney Symphony and David Robertson in a China tour; and the NDR Hamburg and Thomas Hengelbrock in a tour of Tokyo, Beijing, and Shanghai.

In the 2019-20 season, Haochen continues his ongoing collaboration with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin with concerts in Philadelphia and a tour in Japan. Additional symphony highlights include Singapore Symphony, performances of all the Beethoven concertos with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and a tour in China with the National Symphony Orchestra and Gianandrea Noseda. He also gives solo recitals across China and Europe.

In July 2019, Haochen released his debut concerto album on BIS Records performing Prokofiev’s second piano concerto and Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra under Dima Slobodeniouk. His debut solo album was released by BIS in February 2017, which includes works by Schumann, Brahms, Janacek, and Liszt.

In recent seasons, Haochen debuted with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and toured Asia with The Philadelphia Orchestra. He has given extensive recital and concerto tours in Asia with performances in China and Japan. In October 2017, Haochen gave a concerto performance at Carnegie Hall with the China NCPA Orchestra, which was followed by his recital debut at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall.

Haochen Zhang has performed with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, WDR Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio, San Francisco Symphony, LA Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Japan Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony, Mariinsky Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, Taiwan Philharmonic, and Hong Kong Philharmonic orchestras, among others. 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.

Haochen is also an avid chamber musician, collaborating with colleagues such as the Shanghai, Tokyo, and Brentano Quartets. He is frequently invited by chamber music festivals in the United States including the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and La Jolla Summerfest.

Haochen’s performances at the Cliburn Competition were released to critical acclaim by Harmonia Mundi in 2009. He is 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 has also been studying periodically with Andreas Haefliger in Vienna. 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.

HE Hui has starred as Amelia and Leonora in NCPA's operas Un Ballo in Maschera and Il Trovatore.

In 2003 Chinese soprano HE Hui burst onto the international musical scene with her performance of the title role in Puccini's Madama Butterfly at L'Opera de Bordeaux. She has gone on to become not only of one of the most famous interpreters of that role to be heard today, but also one of the most acclaimed interpreters of the titles roles in Aida and Tosca. Her wide repertoire also includes Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera, Leonora in Il Trovatore, the title role in Manon Lescaut, Liu in Turandot, and many others. Since her breakout performance in 2003, she has sung in most of the world's leading theaters such as the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bavarian State Opera, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, as well as becoming a favorite at the Arena di Verona.

In the 2012/2013 season, projects included her debut as La Gioconda in Salerno under Daniel Oren, and Madama Butterfly in Copenhagen, Barcelona, and Munich. Engagements for the 2013/2014 season include performing at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in La Giocanda, with the Teatro alla Scala in Beijing as Aida in 2013 and return to the Metropolitan Opera as the title role in Madama Butterfly.

During the 2010/2011 season HE Hui starred as Aida at the 2011 Maggio Musicale Fiorentino production under Zubin Mehta, in a new production at the Cologne Opera, in Valencia, in Munich, and with the New Israeli Opera at Masada. She made her Chicago Lyric Opera debut in 2012 as Aida and returned to the Metropolitan Opera in the same role.

Born in China's old imperial capital, Xi'an, today known for its legendary terra cotta army, she completed her musical and vocal studies in China and in September 2000 won the 2^nd prize at the International Competition “Placido Domingo Operalia” in Los Angeles. After the competition, she was invited by Maestro Domingo to sing a concert with him in Shanghai in 2001. In April 2001 HE Hui won the First Prize at the Voci Verdiane in Bussetto where she was especially praised by the legendary Turkish soprano, Leyla Gencer. She subsequently made her Italian stage debut in February 2002 as Tosca at the Teatro Regio in Parma. This debut was followed by Alzira in Parma, Aida in Florence, Naples, Rome, Busetto, Lucca, Piacenza and Catanzaro, Un Ballo in Maschera in Verona and Bolzano. Following her debut in Bordeaux important debuts followed in quick succession. In 2004 HE Hui sang Madama Butterfly at the the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago and at the Vienna VolksOper.

She was also chosen to star in the Italian production of Madama Butterfly which celebrated the centenary of it first performance and which was seen throughout Italy. HE Hui debuted at the Vienna State Opera as Lina in Verdi’s Stiffelio and at the Arena di Verona as Liu in Turandot. She also returned to Bordeaux as Tosca. In 2006 HE Hui made two very important debuts, at the Teatro alla Scala in Milano in Tosca, conducted by Lorin Maazel, and at Opéra-Bastille in Paris in Madama Butterfly. In 2007 she debuted in Munich as Tosca, and it was in this role that she made her New York Philharmonic debut in concert performances under Lorin Maazel in 2009. This was followed by her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 2010 as Aida. She has returned to the Arena di Verona every season as Aida, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Liu.

Der Neue Merker, one of the world's leading music magazines "if the Vienna State Opera had a tenor in residence like XIAHOU Jinxu, there would be no need to spend a fortune on other big names. The Chinese Tenor gave a moving interpretation of “Rudolfo" that we have not seen for a long time. XIAHOU Jinxu's voice has an exquisite metallic quality. His technique is impeccable, particularly in the upper register, which is amazing. It should also be noted that his handling of the phrasing was extremely sophisticated..."

Born in 1990 in Shandong Province, XIAHOU is a tenor under contract with the Vienna State Opera. He graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music with a Bachelor’s degree and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with a post-graduate degree in Art Song and Oratorio. In October 2011, he won third place in the NEUE STIMMEN International Singing Competition; in the same year, he was invited to the Vienna State Opera to begin his artistic career. At the Vienna State Opera, he has played many leading roles, including Nemorino in L'Elisir d'Amore, Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola, Prince Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Macduff in Macbeth, Sänger in Der Rosenkavalier, Ottavio in Don Juan, Fenton in Falstaff, Ernesto in Don Pasquale, Conte d’Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Duca di Mantua in Rigoletto, Ismaele in Nabucco, Rudolfo in La bohème, Ferrando in Così Fan Tutte, and Alfredo in La Traviata.

Since 2012, XIAHOU has remained active at the forefront of the world opera scene, and has enjoyed collaborations with many world-renowned conductors, including Christian Thielemann, Chung Myung-whun, Ádám Fischer, Pinkas Steinberg, Peter Schneider, Jesús López-Cobos, Franz Welser-Möst and Marco Armiliato. He has worked with many world-leading orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.

On May 5^th, 2017, he delivered a successful solo concert "Lied Bühne" with Wolfgang Vladar, Principal Horn of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, in the Glass Hall of the Musikverein. In June 2018, he was invited by the world-renowned soprano Gruberová to take part in the Gruberová's 50^th Anniversary Farewell Concert. In January 2019, he participated in the recording of the worldwide live broadcast of the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert. In May of the same year, he was invited to participate in the concert celebrating the 150^th anniversary of the Vienna State Opera.