The 2025 Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music & Council Meeting of the World Association for Performing Arts (WAPA) will take place as scheduled at the NCPA from November 26^th to 28^th. This year’s Forum, themed “Diversity Ignites Brilliance, Pioneering Elevates Excellence”, will be attended by over 300 representatives from more than 190 international art institutions from more than 30 countries and regions across five continents. As global industry elites, they will gather at the NCPA to jointly write a new chapter in symphony development.

On November 20^th, a press conference was held at the NCPA for the 2025 Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music & Council Meeting of the WAPA. The conference was attended and addressed by ZHU Jing, Vice Chairperson of the WAPA and Vice President of the NCPA, YAN Huichang, Artistic Director and Tenured Conductor of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, LI Biao, a conductor and percussionist, and LI Zhe, Chief Executive Officer of the China NCPA Orchestra, among others.

Music is the universal language of mankind. Untranslated, it can still stride across mountains, rivers and borders for a dialogue with history and the future. Symphonic music, a form of art rich in emotion and texture, is spiritually connected to all mankind. Under the framework of the WAPA, which was founded at the initiative of the NCPA, the Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music has been successfully held for three occasions since 2019, gradually becoming an internationally influential professional forum.

According to ZHU Jing, Vice Chairperson of the WAPA and Vice President of the NCPA, this year’s Forum, themed “Diversity Ignites Brilliance, Pioneering Elevates Excellence”, will take place with four hot topics under discussion, i.e., “Festival & Season: Celebration & Cultural Phenomenon”, “Symphony in the Digital Age: Intelligent Evolution”, “Symphony Indigenisation: Ethnic Roots & Transnational Flows”, and “Symphony Unbound: Younger, Bolder, Richer”. The forum will be a platform where global peers can exchange views on how to explore a new pathway for future industry development. On November 26^th, the opening ceremony and subsequent keynote speeches will be streamed on certain network media, including the NCPA Classical Channel and Official Website of the WAPA.

The Council members and some members of the WAPA will be present, for a joint discussion on industry development. During the event, they will convene a council meeting at the NCPA to showcase the fruitful results of cooperation and exciting brand activities that were achieved and organised in the past year. At the meeting, they will also make a work plan for 2026 and deliberate on the membership applications from numerous well-known global art institutions. Now the WAPA has 36 members, which are leading art organisations from 22 countries. Their accession to the WAPA will help to promote the booming development of the global performing arts.

The 2025 Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music has three major highlights. First, it’s larger in size than before. This year’s Forum will be attended by more international guests. That is, more than 50 industry representatives, who are from over 30 countries and regions, will appear to deliver speeches and join in discussions. Among them are a few newcomers, including the Orchestra dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Osipov State Academic Russian Folk Orchestra, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra of Uruguay. Considering the unprecedented number of guests, the Opening Ceremony of the Forum will be held at the NCPA. Second, there are more perspectives from which topics can be discussed. More forward-looking and coherent topics will come under discussion this year. They are closely linked to four core issues - festival and season planning, art plus technology, localisation and promotion, and future vitality of symphonic music. Beyond that, ethnic music professionals and technology enterprises will be invited to this year’s Forum for a discussion on music, culture, communication, digital technology, education and any other things related to symphonic music. Their presence will be better for the all-round development of the symphonic ecosystem. Third, indigenisation practice is more prominent. The concept of “symphony Indigenisation” will be deepened at the forum. To this end, the forum will focus on how to take deep root in the culture to promote the personalized, diversified development of symphonic art in a global context. The symphonic art will thus thrive on a global scale, making it possible to set the stage for inter-civilisational dialogue, even for cultural sharing.

As a worldwide platform for symphonic music exchange that is highly sought after in the industry, the forum will be attended by many of the world’s top orchestras and art institutions, such as the Bayerische Staatsoper, China Musicians' Association, China Symphony Development Foundation, the Youth and Children’s Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela, Radio France, Philharmonia Orchestra, and UAE National Orchestra. They will deliver speeches and hold discussions with one another at the forum to deepen the exchange between Chinese and foreign orchestras, so as to boost the global development of symphonic music. It is particularly noteworthy that the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra will not only give a keynote speech at the forum, but also present two spectacular concerts at the NCPA Concert Hall.

During the sub-forums, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra will talk about their view on seasonal repertoire preparation, new force training and event planning, sharing how to take root in the tradition for innovation. The Ossipov National Academic Folk Instruments Orchestra will explain how to seek a balance between opening up to the outside world and maintaining the unique traditions of every ethnic group. The Verbier Festival Orchestra will introduce their three-in-one system, a system with mentorship, academic education and practice in one, sharing how they foster classical musicians in a systematic manner. The National Symphony Orchestra of Uruguay will share two distinct ways in which the South American symphonic culture developed in the early 20^th century, to explore the development and possibilities of symphonic music. Conductor and jazz pianist JIN YE will talk from the perspective of symphonic jazz about how to build deeper connections with contemporary audiences.

ZHU Jing, Vice President of the NCPA, announced that the 2025 Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music & Council Meeting of the WAPA is soon to kick off. The NCPA is looking forward to joining hands with all to make this event an authoritative pioneer. It is expected to pool all wisdom for further development of symphonic music, to make new breakthroughs in global symphonic art so that it may take on a new look.