Music Director: LÜ Jia

Conductor Laureate: Zuohuang Chen

China NCPA Orchestra is the resident orchestra of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Beijing. Since its founding in 2010, the orchestra has fast established itself as one of the most adventurous and dynamic orchestras in the country and earned an international reputation through extensive performances abroad.

Artists associated with the orchestra included Zubin Mehta, Valery Gergiev, Myung-Whun Chung, Fabio Luisi, Christoph Eschenbach, Shao-Chia Lü, Xian Zhang, Rudolf Buchbinder, Lang Lang, Stephen Kovacevich, Yuja Wang, Jian Wang, Gautier Capucon, Kyung Wha Chung, Vadim Repin, Placido Domingo, Renee Fleming, and Leo Nucci among many others. Lorin Maazel worked closely with the orchestra before his passing and praised the musicians for their “amazing professionalism and great passion in music”.

The orchestra has gained critical acclaim for its performances in NCPA’s opera productions of not only classical repertoire such as Tristan and Isolde, Der Rosenkavalier, Tosca and Aida, but also newly commissioned works like The Rickshaw Boy, The Long March, and The Jinsha River. In its own orchestral concert season, it has consistently presented creative and diverse programmes. The orchestra also gave the Chinese premieres of works by Toru Takemitsu, et al, commissioned and world premiered many works by Michael Gordon, Augusta Read Thomas, Qigang Chen, and ZHAO Jiping et al. Their performance of The Ring without Words with its creator, Lorin Maazel, was released on SONY Classics worldwide. In 2019, the orchestra’s recording of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 was awarded "Best Orchestral Album" at the 2018 Chinese Audiophile Vinyl Award. In 2021, the NCPAO released Beethoven’s Egmont becoming the first Chinese orchestra to record this masterpiece. In celebration of the decade tenure of its Music Director LÜ Jia, the orchestra released two albums in 2022, including Bruckner's Ninth Symphony and a selection of live recordings conducted by LÜ Jia.

Alongside its concert series, the orchestra has received widespread praise for its international appearances at the Kissingen Summer Music Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and concerts in many cities in Germany, as well as in some countries and regions such as Sydney, Singapore, Seoul, Daegu, Abu Dhabi, Taipei and Macau. In 2014, the orchestra undertook its first North American tour and returned in 2017, where it performed at Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony Center, Davies Symphony Hall and other major venues in the U.S. and Canada, under the baton of LÜ Jia. Musical America praised its “joyful confidence and youthful strength”. Concerto Net described it as “a polished, first-rate ensemble”. April 2022 saw the orchestra complete their first six-city national tour, which Music Weekly praised as "a series of sophisticated programs in concerts that blew the roof off. "

Echoing the NCPA’s expansion to its third site, the Beijing Performing Arts Centre located in Beijing Sub-center, the NCPA Orchestra is also opening a new chapter and initiating the expansion of the orchestra. The NCPA Orchestra is now in search of talented and well-trained orchestra musicians globally.

1. Principal: Timpani, Keyboard

3. Associate principal: Cello, Double Bass, Oboe, Horn, Bass Trombone

Date: September 22^nd & 23^rd, 2023

Deadline of Application: August 29^th, 2023

1. Applicants should be of sound character and possess good professional ethics, performing experiences with a professional orchestra is required.

2. Able to rehearse and communicate with others in English.

3. An applicant can only attend the NCPAO audition once in a natural year.

Candidates who pass the audition will sign a contract of full-time employment with the orchestra and formally become a member of the Orchestra after passing the probationary period.

All members of the Orchestra receive rank-based monthly salary, rehearsal fee and performance fee, plus allowances for housing, working meal and instrument accessories, and related social insurances.

NCPA Orchestra maintains pre-planned season, monthly, and project schedules that are steady and announced in advance. All members of the orchestra works in flexible hours in line with the orchestra schedule, and are entitled to four weeks of annual vacation, and four weeks of paid personal off, as well as off days in between work weeks.

Materials required for application include:

1. Personal information submitted through online application platform

2. Copies of ID card / Passport, graduation certificates, diplomas, award certificates and other professional certificates (if any).

3. A colored 2-inch ID photo in jpg. or png. format.

4. Audio recording of the applicant playing selected pieces from the “2023 China NCPA Orchestra Audition Repertoire”: one solo piece and one orchestral excerpt.

Please gain access to the application platform of NCPAO audition through the link or QR code below, fill in all the required information and upload files as required.

Webpage link: https://www.wenjuan.com/s/EzE3Mzo/

QR Code:

Application Opens: July 28^th (Reply in 3 business days)

Prescreening: August 25^th–September 4^th

Audition Dates: September 22^nd to 23^rd (Details will be sent in the invitations)

Upon receiving application materials, NCPAO Audition Committee will conduct the prescreening, including verifying the authenticity of the recordings, evaluating CVs and techniques of all applicants, and finalizing the decisions. If passing the prescreening, the applicant will receive an email invitation to the audition.

All applicants who pass the prescreening will participate in the audition as informed. Please be aware that the accommodation fee is not for reimbursement.

Please ensure that the information in the application materials is real and the recordings are played by the applicants. The Audition Committee remains the right to reject any applicant, who is found fraudulent throughout the audition, and to file the details.

Blind Audition: The Jury will vote for yes/no；the candidate needs at least half votes to enter the Jury Audition.

• Solo Repertoire: Please refer to “2023 China NCPA Orchestra Audition Repertoire” (Click to Download). Content should be exactly as per requirements and set list. Please note that failing to adhere to the requirements may result in disqualification.

• Virtuoso Piece (strings only): Piece or pieces between 5 to 10 minutes that best showcases your technique and skills.

• Orchestral Excerpts: Please see “2023 China NCPA Orchestra Audition Repertoire”. For requesting listed excerpts, please submit applications via the application platform first. Scores will be sent to qualified applicants via email.

• Sight-reading (strings and keyboard only): One or more excerpts will be provided during the audition for sight-reading.

Please find all excerpts requirement in 2023 China NCPA Orchestra Audition Repertoire.

Candidates who passed auditions for Principal, Co-principal, and Associate Principal will go through trails with the orchestra. The jury will give a conclusive decision based on comprehensive manifestations.

NCPA Orchestra Office at National Centre for the Performing Arts

No. 2 Xichanganjie St., Xicheng District

Beijing, China, 100031

Phone: +86-10-66550522

Fax: +86-10-66550519

Email: hr@ncpao.com

Contact: Mr. Tan

*Beijing National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra Co., Ltd. reserves the right of final interpretation to all content.