NCPA Opera Festival 2016 holds press conference
Photo by Gao Shang / chncpa.org 

The annual opera festival of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) will kick off on April 6 and present five concerts and eight productions created by NCPA, China National Opera House, Tianjing Conservatory of Music and Wuhan Song and Dance Theatre in 103 days.  

NCPA Vice President ZHU Jing interprets the theme of this year's Opera Festival
Photo by Gao Shang / chncpa.org 

NCPA Vice President ZHU Jing, Artistic Administration Director Iris WEI Lanfen, China National Opera House ZHONG Mingda, well-known composer YIN Qing, playwright HUANG Weiruo and producer MA Mei attended the press conference on March 29. 

Artistic Administration Director Iris WEI Lanfen talks about NCPA's own opera productions in this Festival
Photo by Gao Shang / chncpa.org 

The Opera Festival 2016 gives voice to promotion of Chinese opera. Three Chinese operas to be staged are The Long March produced by NCPA (premiere on June 30), Mountain and Brook by Wuhan Song and Dance Theatre (April 12-13) and Yue Fei by Tianjin Conservatory of Music (June 6 to 7). Meanwhile there will be an operetta gala and a children's opera gala in early June. The programmes cover arias and choruses from NCPA commissioned operas such as Visitors on the Snow Mountain, Rickshaw Boy and The Long March. 

NCPA's production of Wagner's opera Tannhauser will kick off this year's Opera Festival 

Following Tannhauser opening the Festival on April 6, we will have another four Western classics: La Traviata (April 20), Madama Butterfly, Rusalka (May 17) and Il Barbiere di Siviglia (July 13). NCPA Chorus will give concerts on three successive nights from May 23-25, featuring choruses from NCPA commissioned and produced operas. And China National Opera House Symphony Orchestra will also give us a wonderful night on June 24. 

The Opera Forum held annually during the Festival this year focuses on "the national culture and its development in contemporary opera", and its four topics are "the present situation and future development of newly commissioned opera"; "the producing pattern of new commissions in opera houses"; "National heritage and culture in the opera field" and "exploration of Chinese national opera production". 

Meanwhile, NCPA's own educational programmes will feature the theme of the Opera Festival and invite renowned artists, scholars and critics to share their experience of opera. In our exhibition halls, other than the staples, NCPA will present "Opera House for Kids" and other exhibitions introducing the operas in this festival and NCPA's own opera films. 

Outside the Egg, NCPA will screen eight wonderful opera films in more than 30 universities featuring pre-show talks by guests. In addition, NCPA's opera films Rickshaw boy, Carmen and Norma will also be a part of the prestigious Beijing Film Festival. From April to June this year, NCPA will launch a series of activities in its two pilot primary schools as a part of its "Nuturing Project".