On September 19^th, the China NCPA Orchestra announced its 2025/26 concert season under the theme of “Back to the Future”. The programme includes eight operas with 37 performances, 30 symphonic programmes with 48 concerts, 16 chamber orchestra programmes with 22 concerts, and 8 chamber ensemble programs with 8 concerts. With its remarkable scale, distinguished artists, forward-looking repertoire, and a forward-looking aesthetic vision, the season demonstrates the orchestra’s expansive outlook and artistic ambition.

At the opening concert that night, Music Director LÜ Jia led the Orchestra in interpreting two classic masterworks by Richard Strauss - Don Giovanni and Thus Spoke Zarathustra. WU Wei, the artist-in-residence for the 2025/26 season, also appeared at the opening, performing HUANG Ruo’s sheng concerto Mysterious Yellow. This year marks the 15^th anniversary of the founding of the China NCPA Orchestra. Dozens of former orchestra members and several past administrators returned from across the world for the concert, to witness this milestone. Concert over, the Orchestra gave affectionate encore, a specially arranged version of Happy Birthday to You. When CHEN Shu, Associate Concertmaster of the Orchestra, revealed that “the day was also Music Director LÜ Jia’s birthday”, the concert reached its climax, with the NCPA Concert Hall soaked in a warm musical atmosphere.

Since its founding in 2010, the China NCPA Orchestra has now entered its 15^th year. The theme “Back to the Future” is not merely an imaginative theme, but also a profound self-statement that the China NCPA Orchestra makes at the beginning of its 15^th anniversary. Over the past 15 years, the Orchestra has presented nearly 1,600 performances, launched 12 full seasons, and cooperated with more than 360 guest artists. Having grown from a newborn “green seedling” into an “immense forest”, it is now a cornerstone for artistic production at the NCPA. This August, the Orchestra completed a European tour across several countries, presenting five concerts - most of them sold out -, and receiving high praise from the local media and audiences, further enhancing its reputation in the international music scene.


ZHANG Yao, Vice President of the NCPA, said that this year marks the 15^th anniversary of the founding of the Orchestra, and the themed “Back to the Future” means staying true to the original aspiration, carrying on the past and opening up a way for future. Over the past 15 years, the Orchestra has become a distinguished representative of China’s symphonic world through artistic excellence and continuous innovation. Under the NCPA’s new framework of “one institution in three locations”, the Orchestra will do a better job in cultural inheritance and innovation, so as to present more high-quality musical works to the audience and further spread the Chinese symphonic art on a global scale.


In the view of LI Zhe, Executive Director of the China NCPA Orchestra, “Back to the Future” is the most encouraging theme for the China NCPA Orchestra. What is the future like and how to stride into the future? That’s an eternal question for humankind. It’s also what the China NCPA Orchestra needs to consider on its 15^th anniversary. What should the Orchestra look like in the future? The answer can be found in its original aspiration, ambition and attitude set 15 years ago. Such a future is like a hometown we once lived in. Rather than going to, it is more about returing to. This is also why we wanted to name this season “Back to the Future.”

Music Director LÜ Jia elucidated the theme with his profound artistic insight: “When a time-weathered symphonic work is performed anew today, we feel as if leaping into that mysterious drawer, with our thoughts running between history and the future. For the musical treasures bequeathed by history, they remain alive in today’s interpretations. Furthermore, their looks have been sublimated by the composers in later ages.” In his view, the future lies in the past spiritual wealth, awaiting to be unearthed and reinterpreted by contemporary artists.

On the journey “Back to the Future”, there must be Chinese and foreign artists marching ahead hand in hand. Still with “Chinese and international forces” as the core, the Orchestra will provide stronger support for young musicians and deepen its cooperation with international organisations this season. The new season will star 20 guest conductors, 35 guest soloists and four art ensembles.

Music Director LÜ Jia will stay under the spotlight throughout the season. In addition to the opening and closing concerts, he will also conduct more than ten concerts under “Mozart Spectrum” and “Back to the Future”. Especially, he will conduct a number of NCPA operas, including GUO Wenjing’s The Red Sorghum, which will have its world premiere in September 2025. LÜ Jia has delved into Bruckner’s symphonic music for several consecutive years, thereby earning two accolades from Gramophone, with his rendition of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6 kept as the best recording guide by the magazine. This season, he will lead the orchestra in interpreting Mozart’s programmatic symphonies composed in the composer’s later years. He will continue the record production plan to present works by Beethoven, Schumann, Richard Strauss, Tchaikovsky and other masters. Meanwhile, LÜ Jia will go on with his exploration of Dutilleux, a great composer in the 20^th century, to share the modern growth of classical music.


Another remarkable highlight is the accession of ZHANG Xian to the new season as Principal Guest Conductor. This Chinese conductor, who enjoys a high reputation in the international music scene, will reach deep and systematic cooperation with the China NCPA Orchestra. She will present Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 to create a dialogue across time and space between classicism and romanticism. She will also join hands with violinist YANG Tianwo to perform violin concertos by Prokofiev and Bruch, and with pianist ZHANG Haochen to present Qigang Chen’s piano concerto.


According to this season’s Artist-in-Residence Programme, WU Wei, an internationally acclaimed sheng artist, will put on four distinct and varied programmes. He will work with the China NCPA Orchestra to play a sheng concerto, and join hands with organist Megumi Hamaya to perform a concerto for sheng and pipe organ. He will also share the stage with the Silk Jazz Trio‌ and render other genres of music, such as Baroque chamber music, jazz, impromptu, ancient music and orchestral music, to display the infinite possibilities of sheng music.

LI Zhe, Executive Director of the China NCPA Orchestra, says that in the new season, the Orchestra will continue to build a systematic, diverse artistic experience platform, and work with Mullova, Hadelich, WU Wei or other artists in giving lectures, workshops or masterclasses to explore the stories behind music. The Orchestra will regularly hold open rehearsals so that music lovers will have chance to learn about what the musicians usually do with passion and attention behind the scenes. They will also see how a performance is developed from nothing. “NCPAO in the City”, a sub-brand launched in 2022, will step out of the NCPA into local communities to bridge the gap between classical music and the common citizens.


The Orchestra will spare no effort in promoting art popularisation and education. With their virtuosity, experience and accomplishments, the musicians will help to cultivate musical ability in the new generation, making them capable of riding the waves forward. In 2024, the Beijing Youth Orchestra, run by the China NCPA Orchestra, made an international debut at Carnegie Hall, New York, and attended the “World Orchestra Week” as a representative of Asian youth orchestras. At the invitation of the Shijingshan District Education Commission, the orchestra began to provide art direction for the Shijingshan Youth Orchestra in 2025. In the new season, the Beijing Youth Orchestra will continue to help young musicians realise their musical dreams.