Pier Luigi Pizzi first worked as a set designer in 1951. For twenty years he worked at the renowned Compagnia dei Giovani together with Giorgio De Lullo, Romolo Valli and Rossella Falk, creating almost all of the sets and costumes for that company's productions. In the 1960s the Compagnia dei Giovani visited Moscow and Leningrad on tour. 

1977 saw Pizzi’s debut as an opera director with Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Teatro Regio in Turin (with Ruggero Raimondi in the lead role). 

For over sixty years the stage director has worked with major theatres and at the most prominent festivals. He has won numerous prestigious international awards, among them the Ordre de la Légion d'honneur, the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Officier), the Order of the Holy Cross of the Italian Republic (Honorary Cavalier), the Order for Services to Culture of the Principality of Monaco (Commander, 2006), the Order of St Agatha of the Republic of San Marino, Milan’s order of Golden Ambrosia and Florence's Order of the Golden Florin. Pizzi also holds the title of Honorary Doctor of the University of Macerata and is a member of the Verona and Parma Academies of Fine Arts and a recipient of the Life for Music award.

In 2000 the stage director won a seventh Abbiati Prize in the category 'Best Opera Production of the Year' for Britten's Death in Venice (Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa). 

At the opening of the Teatro delle Muse in Ancona there was a performance of Pizzi's production of Idomeneo, and he later returned to that theatre to stage Henze's Elegie für junge Liebende and Hindemith's Neues vom Tage. 

At many theatres throughout the world Pizzi has staged his production of Handel's Rinaldo: this production has been seen in Reggio Emilia, Paris, Madrid, Lisbon, Geneva, Venice (La Fenice) and Milan (La Scala). The stage director has also produced La traviata, A Midsummer Night's Dream and  three operas by Monteverdi at the Teatro Real in Madrid in addition to offering his own new and revolutionary reading of Verdi's Un ballo in Maschera at the Piacenza Expo exhibition centre. The latter production was subsequently performed at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo and  at the Sferisterio arena in Macerata.  

Pizzi founded an opera festival in Macerata, of which he served as Artistic Director from 2006 to 2011. During his tenure the festival's repertoire became enriched with many baroque and contemporary operas.

Productions by the stage director in recent years include Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, Lehár's Die Lustige Witwe and  Marschner's Der Vampyr at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and  the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Riz Ortolani's Il principe della gioventù at La Fenice in Venice and  the Teatro Arcimboldi in Milan, Reynaldo Hahn's Mozart (directed by Sacha Guitry) at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Britten's The Turn of the Screw at La Fenice in Venice, Adès' Powder Her Face in Bologna and Verdi's Un giorno di regno, I vespri siciliani and La battaglia di Legnano at the Verdi Festival in Parma. Recently Pizzi completed work on the Mozart and Da Ponte trilogy.  

Vincenzo Raponi started working in the theater in Latina (Italy)when he was 16 as an electrician in the company of theater for children "Il Baule". Subsequently he had accumulated experience in many companies of prose: in the company Salvo Randone, Valeria Moriconi, Mario Scaccia, Arnoldo Foa, Marina Confaloni Massimo Venturiello and with directors such as F .Tiezzi, M. Sciaccaluga, G. Cobelli, G. Solari. 

In his career as an electrician place deserves the great experience of ten made at the ROF Pesaro: this was his real gym where he met technicians and artists of the highest quality and where he grew further. 

But a jump much more important in his career in 1997, he was asked to debut as Lighting Designer: brighten, color, define and emphasize atmospheres through light. A difficult art that you never stop to discover and develop: started as a fantastic adventure with the special world of light and in his hands he saw the realization of a dream that he continued to live to this day. 

Outside of the world of entertainment he increases and applies his knowledge in the art and architecture: from the permanent lighting of the Madonna of the Pellegrini by Caravaggio in 1999, he then lit several exhibitions of various kinds and collaborate actively since 2012 with the Officinadelle Zattere in Venice. 

Recently his collaboration with Maestro Pier Luigi Pizzi include Otello in Parma, Alceste CW Gluck in Venice, Maometto II in Opera of Rome, Un Ballo in Maschera in Verona, Tosca and Cavalleria Rusticana in Rome Terme di Caracalla, among others. 

Gheorghe Iancu was born in Bucharest (Romania) where he started training at the State Academy and graduated, after nine years, with Constantin Marinescu for classical ballet and Miriam Raducanu for modern and contemporary dance. 

He later went on to train at Bolshoi Theatre with M° Semionov, at Marijnsky Theatre in St Petersburg with M° Omrihin and the famous M° Marinel Popescu who recently passed away. Iancu and Popescu developed a long-term collaboration which remained active during his whole life. 

Fracci and Iancu began a great artistic partnership and they performed together at the most important theatres in Italy and all over the world (Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Covent Garden, Bolsh’oi Theatre, Berlin Staatsoper, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, Teatro Colon di Buenos Aires, Salle Playel de Paris, Opera House in Rio de Janeiro, Opéra de Montecarlo, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Festival di Spoleto...). His repertory included Raymonda, Don Quixote, Les Sylphides, Cinderella, Giselle, Swan Lake, Coppelia. 

In 1990 he founded a company called FabulaSaltica where he created many choreographic works such as La Mascherata, Aura, Richard III and Synthesis (music by J.S. Bach, G. Garbarek, J. Haydn, inspired by and dedicated to Oskar Schlemmer and Bauhaus). Iancu remained as Artist Director untill 1996. 

From 1997 his works as choreographer became widely known and appreciated even though he continued to delight the audience as a dancer. While continuing his career as a dancer, Gheorghe Iancu did several important works created in different spaces, having different ideas and using different styles.  

Iancu developed a reputation as a talented choreographer so that one of the most important Italian Director, Pierluigi Pizzi, called him to start a strong artistic partnership and asking him to create new dances for dozens of opera directions in Europe. 

In september 2005 Gheorghe Iancu created all choreographies for the gala honoring Pier Luigi Pizzi who was given the "Vita nella musica Arthur Rubistein" award (Teatro La Fenice di Venezia). In september 2007 he went to Bolshoi Teatre to coach the Principal Dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze who had to dance L'Après-midi d'un Faune. 

In 2008 Gheorghe Iancu made new choreographies for Aida during Beijing Olympic Games and for The Merry Widow at Teatro alla Scala di Milano. 

His prizes include Premio Positano (twice), Premio Danza&Danza (twice), Premio Abbati for his choreographies in Death in Venice. 

In 2002 Gheorghe Iancu received the Cultural Merit Order in Romania and in 2008, after 32 years, he came back to Bucharest for staging his production of Swan Lake at The National Opera where Iancu started his artistic career. After the huge success of Swan Lake he was offered the Direction of the ballet company. 

Born in 1963, he attended “Conservatorio G. Verdi di Milano” where he graduated  with full marks in Composition with Azio Corghi, Choir conducting with Domenico Zingaro, Vocal composition and Orchestra conducting. He attended Master classes for Conducting with Acel Erwin and graduated in Opera orchestra conducting with Umberto Cattini. 

Since 1994 he has been “Maestro alle Voci Bianche” at Teatro alla Scala and since 2003 he has been the conductor of the same choir for the productions of the theatre. 

He has been the conductor of the of AS.LI.CO. chorus since 1998. In 2000 he was Chorus Master for Così fan tutte at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano, directed by Giorgio Strehler.

He teaches Choir practice at the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala, and Conductor of the 'Coro da Camera dell'Accademia della Scala'.

He has been Chorus Master at Teatro la Fenice in Venice during the season 2008.

He has worked with conductors such as: Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Jeffrey Tate, Bruno Bartoletti, Yuri Temirkanov, Gari Bertini, AndreyBoreyko, Daniele Callegari, Ottavio Dantone, Daniele Gatti, Andrew Davies, Enrique Mazzola, Corrado Rovaris, Massimo De Bernard, Paolo Arrivabeni. 

Since December 2005 he has begun a collaboration with the 'Ch？ur de Radio France' in Paris as Guest Chorus Master. He has prepared this prestigious ensemble for conductors such as Myun Wung Chung, Riccardo Muti, Enrique Mazzola, and he himself has conducted some choral concerts, which have been broadcasted by Radio France.

Since September 2009 he is Chorus Master at Theatre du Capitole in Toulouse.

As composer he has worked with institutions such as 'I Pomeriggi Musicali' in Milan and 'Teatro Valli' in Reggio Emilia (Director Daniele Abbado), and with the film music Italian composer Franco Piersanti.

In 1995 he won the 1st price for film music during a Film Music course at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena with Ennio Morricone.

His transcription of Prokofiev's Love of the Three Oranges has been authorized and acquired by Boosey and Hawkes.

Elena Popovskaya graduated with distinction from the Moscow State Conservatoir and she joined the Novaya Opera Theatre in 1998. 

Since 2007, Elena Popovskayahasbeen a guest soloist with the Bolshoi Theatre, where she performed the role of Liza (The Queen of Spades) in a new production of the opera. In 2012 she sang the role of Turandot. In 2013 she took part in the production of Prince Igor, singing the part of Yaroslavna (conductorVassilySinaisky, director Yuri Lyubimov). In 2014 she sang Renata (The Fiery Angel).

From 2010 sheis a guest soloist of Mariinsky Theatre, where she performed the roles of Liza (The Queen of Spades), Turandot (Turandot) and Amelia (Un Ballo in Maschera).  

In 2007 she performed the role of Renata (The Fiery Angel) at La Monnaie (Brussels), as wellas the roles of Liza (The Queen of Spades) and Turandot (Turandot) at the Latvian National Opera (Riga).  

In 2008 she became the first Russian singer to perform the role of Turandot at the Giacomo Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago and received delighted reviews from the critics of leading magazines in Europe (Opéra in France and Amadeus in Italy). In the 2009-2010 season she was invited back to the festival and toured throughout Italy with the festival’s production.  

In 2010 she performed the title role in Strauss opera Elektrain a production of the Teatro Comunale di Bolzano together with the Joseph Haydn Orchestra and the Arturo Toscanini Orchestra under the baton of Gustav Kuhn; she made her debutas Manon (Manon Lescaut) at the Teatro Comunale Luciano Pavarotti in Modena (Italy) and she performed the role of Turandot (Turandot, directed by Franco Zeffirelli) at the Arena di Verona Festival.  

In 2012 she made her debut at the Rome Opera as Cio-Cio-san (Madama Butterfly). In 2013 she sang Cio-Cio-san in Teatro delle Muse di Ancona, Senta (Der fliegende Hollaender) in Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Turandot in Rome Opera.

In 2014 she performed the title role in La Gioconda at the Opéra de Marseille.

She has worked with such conductors as Pinchas Steinberg, Gustav Kuhn, Kazushi Ono, Alberto Veronesi, Vladimir Fedoseev, Mikhail Pletnev, Andris Nelsons, Antonio Pirolli, Jan Latham-Koenig and Giuliano Carella and stage directors including Richard Jones, Franco Zeffirelli, Valery Fokin, Kasper Holten, Francesco Maestrini and Maurizio Scaparro.  

She has performed in NCPA productions of Turandot, Tosca, Der Fliegende Hollaender, Nabucco, Pagliacci, Norma, Andrea Chenier and NCPA opera commission Rickshaw Boy.

Soprano Sun Xiuwei is Professor of Academy of Opera, Peking Univrsity.She studied with Professor Gao Zhilan and famous soprano Rita Orlandi-Malaspina in Milan, Italy. From 1994 to 1995, she won first prizes in six world class singing contests around the world within less than two years. In 1994, she began her opera career with her first singing engagement of G. Verdi's La Traviata at the Tokyo Opera House. She then sang in Norma, La Traviata, La Forza del Destino, Il Trovatore, Attila, Suor Angelica, Andrea Chenier, Il Corsaro, Macbeth, Turandot, Pagliacci, Requiem, Nabucco and so on. She also sang in Madama Butterfly by G. Puccini, and she has played more than three hundred performances of this opera around the world. She performed in opera houses in Roma, Bologna, Palermo, Trieste, Genova, Venice, Torre Di Lago, Catania in Italy, Berlin, Bonn and Carlsruhe in Germany, Nice in France; Zurich in Switzerland, Bilbao, Spain, Serbia, Washington, Los Angeles, Detroit, and Philadelphia in the United States. She worked with famous artists like Domingo, Gatti, and Nagano.

Ms. Sun has participated in the performance of NCPA opera films Nabucco with maestro Placido Domingo and Turandot with conductor Daniel Oren. She is one of the few Chinese sopranos that are much sought after in Europe. 

Andrea Caré is a fine Italian tenor, featuring as one of the most prominent artists in the new generation of operatic tenors. He completed his musical studies at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Turin and was among the last students who had the privilege to study with Luciano Pavarotti. In 2005, he was the winner of the Spoleto International Opera Competition. 

Caré debuted at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna as Pollione in Norma(2009)and was also heard as Giasone in Cherubini’s Medeaat the Teatro Regio in Torino and as Alfredo in La Traviata in Ravenna. He then made his debut at the Teatro Massimo in Medea, returned to Turin as Alfredo in La Traviata and then made his debut with the Rome Opera’s season at the Terme di Caracalla as Don José in Carmen. He debuted at the Teatro alla Fenice in Janacek’s rarely performed first opera, Sarka. 

From here he sang at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo as Ismaele in Nabuccoand was then first heard in North America as Don José with the Palm Beach Opera. Following this, he debuted at the Savonlinna Opera Festival as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. 

He went on to have many successful seasons, returning to Turin in Madama Butterfly and after performances of Carmen in Padova and Rovigo, he made his German debut in the title role of a new production of Samson et Dalilain Nurnberg.  He was next heard at the Hamburg State Opera as Don José and made his debut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and at the San Carlo in Naples in the same role. Caré debuted at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Norma in May 2011. 

In 2013, he made his debut at the Royal Opera House, including: Ismaele (Nabucco), Cavaradossi (Tosca) at the Staatstheater of Stuttgart and at the Opèra du Rhin, Strasbourg. He then sang the title role of Reyer’s Sigurd at Victoria Hall of Genève, opposite the acclaimed soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci. Caré’s other debuts have also included Macduff (Macbeth)at the Grand Theatre de Genève. He sang the role of Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome and Don José at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm. 

Whilst developing his operatic repertoire, Andrea had already sung important Verdi roles including: the title role in Don Carlos at the Bolshoi and Vancouver Opera Theatres, Stiffelio with the Royal Opera House of Stockholm and Gabriele Adorno (Simon Boccanegra).  The 2014/15 season was hugely successful, seeing Caré perform Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly for the Canadian Opera company. He closed the season with performances of Tosca in St Margarethen.
The 2015/16 season looks to be a promising one with engagements including Don Josè (Camen) at the Royal Opera House, Don Carlo at the Bolshoi and La Gioconda at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing. He will then perform Adriana Lecouvreur in La Monnaie, before closing the season with Don Carlo at the Opera du Rhin. 

Chi Liming is one of the most outstanding tenors in China. His frequent appearances on the operatic stage in Europe and the United States won him the title from Western media 'the most promising tenor in the world'. Chi has already performed in countries and regions including the US, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. As a member of 'Group of Chinese Musicians', together with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Chi participated in the performance in Kennedy Center in Washington DC. in December 2010. He also worked with Russian artists in 2009 in the Great Hall of People, performing for China Premier Wen Jiabao and President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. He has worked with many conductors, among them are John Nelson, Alberto Zedda, Bruno Dal Bon, Peter Mark, Patrick Summers, Pascal Verrot, Paolo Olmi, Lu Jia, Zhang Guoyong, Yu Long, Chen Xieyang, Hu Yongyan and Chen Zuohuang.

Ekaterina Gubanova is one of the finest mezzo-sopranos of the last generations. Her past and future appearances include performances in Opera Houses like the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Bayerische Staatsoper, Staatsoper Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Lyric Opera Chicago, and Teatro Real in Madrid.  

Gubanova was born in Moscow and began her musical studies as a pianist. In 2005 she sang Brang？ne in Tristan und Isolde at Opera National de Paris with immense critical success. Since then she has reprised the role in Baden-Baden, Rotterdam, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, St. Petersburg and Munich, collaborating with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Valery Gergiev, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Riccardo Muti and Zubin Mehta. After her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Prokofiev's War and Peace, she started a strong collaboration with the Company. 

In concert, she has sung the roles in Oedipus Rex, Das Lied von der Erde, Rückert Lieder, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Verdi Requiem. Her recent engagements include Anna Bolena at the Metropolitan; Die Walküre and Das Rheingold in Staatsoper Berlin, in Scala and at the Proms; Don Carlo in Teatro alla Scala, Münich, St. Petersburg, Toulouse and New York; Verdi Requiem in Florence, Naples and St. Petersburg; Tristan und Isolde in Munich, Valencia, Tokyo, Salzburg and Madrid, Rusalka in Chicago, Werther in Berlin, Norma in Barcelona, Bluebeard's Castle in Toronto and Paris, and Norma in Munich. 

Plans for the future seasons include Tristan und Isolde and Aida at Metropolitan Opera in New York, Aida in Vienna, Cavalleria Rusticana in Berlin, Norma in Istanbul, and Carmen in Chicago. 

Niu Shasha played Maddalena in Rigoletto, co-produced by NCPA and Teatro Regio di Parma.

She is a specially appointed mezzo-soprano in China National Opera House. She won the Best Performance Award of Boulanger music in France in 2007. In 2008, she was the first place winner of the 4th Maldini International Vocal Competition in Mantova, Italy. In 2010, she won the Wenhua Award of the 9th National Vocal Competition held by the Ministry of Culture. In 2013, she was named an outstanding young performer by the Ministry of Culture.

In 2006, she sang in the premiere of Il Trovatore in China. In 2007, she played in the original Chinese opera Farewell to My Concubine. In 2013, she performed in Il Trovatore in Rome. In 2014, she played in China National Opera House's grand Wagner production Siegfried.

Niu has sung in many operas including Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Tan Dun's Tea, The Flying Dutchman, Salome,and Le Nozze di Figaro. She has repeatedly sung the solo part and the leading role in symphonic concerts, and her repertoire include Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Mahler's Symphony No.2, Mahler's Symphony No.3, Verdi's Requiem, among others.

In recent years the German singer Thomas Gazheli has moved successfully into the Heldenbariton repertoire. In the 2010/2011 he sings the role of Gunther in Gotterdammerung at the Teatro Petruzzelli Bari, Alberich in Rheingold at Aalto Theater Essen, Wotan in Wallküre at Teatro Municipal Sao Paulo, Don Pizarro at Teatro Reggio di Torino. Don Pizarro in Fidelio in Ravenna and Bolzano, Amfortas in Parsifal, Wolfram in Tannhauser and Fritz Kothner in Meistersinger at Tyrolean Festival (Austria).

The 2009/2010 season included his very acclaimed debut as Alberich (Rheingold) at Oper Leipzig, Hauptmann (Wozzeck by Gurrlitt) at Lucerne Festival, Telramund in Lohengrin at Teatro Massimo Palermo, debut as Jochanaan (Salmoe by R. Strauss),Orest (Elektra by R.Strauss) in Teatro Comunale di Modena, Teatro Municipale Piacenza, Teatro Comunale di Ferrara and Teatro Comunale Bolzano, Wanderer (Siegfried) at Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari, Papageno and Hollander (Der Fliegender Hollaender) at Tyrolean Festival, a role which he will sing in 2012 in his Montreal debut.

Thomas Gazheli was born in Karlsruhe, where he began his musical education as trumpet- and violinplayer. He studied singing at the Hochschule Frankfurt am Main with Prof. Maclane-Lanier and completed his studies with Prof. Josef Metternich in Munich. During his studies in Frankfurt Donald Runnicles engaged him as a soloist at the Stadtische Buhnen Freiburg, followed by engagements at Theater Basel and Staatstheater am Gartnerplatz Munich, where he was a member until 2007 and where he sang a wide and varied repertoire as a principal baritone.

Thomas Gazheli is also known as concert singer with a broad concert repertoire - he sang at the Philharmonie Berlin, Musikvereinssaal Vienna, Philharmonie Koln, Musikhalle Hamburg, Brucknerhaus Linz, Liederhalle Stuttgart, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Philharmonie Munich, Herkulessaal and was invited for several seasons to perform with Haydn Orchestra Bolzano.

Zhang Feng has performed in NCPA productions of Otello and Carmen.

Zhang Feng studied with Zhou Xiaoyan and Xu Yi, the famous sopranos and vocal educators, and Mirella Freni, the world's top sopranos. He won the first award twice in 1998 and 2000 at the Hungary Budapest International Music Competition; he played Montague in Romeo and Juliet. His first own opera in 1996, and won praises from artists at home and abroad, and since then, he has started performing on the global opera stage. He has played more than 20 roles, including Figaro from The Barber of Seville, Gianni Schicchi from Gianni Schicchi, Escamillo from Carmen, the Baron Scarpia from Tosca, Armand Duval from The Lady of The Camellias, Don Juan from Don Juan, and Qiu Hu from The Wilderness by Cao Yu. His major performances also include: the premiere of Chinese opera The Wilderness in 1997; the Italian Melody hosted by the famous Italian soprano Katia Ricciarelli in 1998; the opening ceremony performance for the China Pavilion Day at Hannover World Expo in Germany in 2000; the solo concert successfully held at the Carnegie Hall in New York and the Asian Outstanding Young Singer Concert in 2001; a leading baritone singer of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with German Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Justus Franz in 2004; the performance in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Italian National Day, the concert tour of the Puccini Opera Collections, and the open-air solo concert at the Bosa International Art Festival in Italy in 2006; the singing of the Toreador Song at the Golden Hall of Vienna in 2007, which won standing ovation for three minutes, and then the Beautiful Song of Napoli concert invited by the vocal king Renzo Arbore in Italy’s Viareggio; the three solo concerts successfully held in Italy's Rome and Sardinia in 2008. In 2011, the President of the Italy specially issued a certificate, conferring Zhang Feng the Knight of Italian Republic Medal, and commended him as 'one of the best opera singers' in the awarding speech.

Zhang Feng currently is a member of the Shanghai Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and vice chairman of Shanghai Youth Literature and Art Federation; he has won the Shanghai Artist award and the 15th Top Ten Shanghai Outstanding Youth award.

Born in Massa, Giorgio Giuseppini began his singing studies with Clara Foti and then specialized under the guidance of Carlo Badioli, Aldo Protti and Vittorio Rosetta.  

In 1991 he was the first prize-winner of the International Singing Competition of Loano (Savona).  

Giorgio Giuseppini has subsequently started a brilliant career, having performed in the major opera and concert houses throughout Europe. His past seasons were marked by several successful interpretations of the main Verdi's operas, such as Aida, Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, Nabucco, Simon Boccanegra, Jérusalem, La Forza del Destino, I Masnadieri, Macbeth and Don Carlo. Giorgio Giuseppini also performed in Lucia di Lammermoor, Norma, Turandot, La Bohème, Benvenuto Cellini, Maria Stuarda, Caterina Cornaro, Don Giovanni, La Gioconda, Werther, La Sonnambula and Médée. 

During his career Giorgio Giuseppini has performed under the baton of some of the most outstanding conductors, such as Colin Davis, Daniele Gatti, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, John Nelson, Daniel Oren, Riccardo Chailly, Roberto Abbado and Frühbeck de Burgos.

Guan Zhijing has performed in NCPA productions of La Bohème (Colline), A Village Teacher (Zhou Wushan), La Traviata (The Doctor), L'Elisir d'Amore (Dr. Dulcamara), Turandot (Timur), The Chinese Orphan (Gongsun Chujiu), Rigoletto (the Killer), Xi Shi (Wu Zixu), Lohengrin (Heinrich der Vogler), and Le Nozze di Figaro (Bartolo).

As a bass, Guan Zhijing is active on both domestic and overseas opera stages with complete singing skills, proper vocal flexibility and complex performance features. He is the winner of Wenhua Award in the 8^th National Vocal Music Competition, the Award of Merit in the first 'Voice from the Golden Shore' New Singers & Songs Competition and the Crystal Award in the 3^rd CCTV Foreign Song Competition for Chinese Singers. He was recruited in 2005 to the international master class organized by reputable Italian tenor Carlo Bergonzi.

Chinese American mezzo-soprano Guo Yanyu has already worked with many opera companies throughout Europe and the United States; including San Francisco Opera, Washington Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Opera Paris de Bastille, Goteborg Opera Sweden, Landestheater Salzburg, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Nationaltheater Weimar, Opera North Carolina, Connecticut Grand Opera, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Saarlandisches Staatstheater, Staatstheater Freiburg, Theater Essen, Staatstheater Darmstadt, Theater Bielefeld, Theater Monchengladbach und Krefeld. She has performed with great success as Ortrud in Lohengrin, Amneris in Aida, Azucena in Il Trovatore, Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera, Fricka in Die Walküre and Das Rheingold, Waltraute in Gotterdommerung, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, and Mutter in Hansel und Gretel. Guo Yanyu has worked with conductors such as Maurizio Arena, Bruno Campanella, Edo de Waart, Charles Mackerras, Donald Runnicles, Nello Santi, Gerard Schwarz, Patrick Summers, John Fiore; Directors such as John Copley, Sonja Frisell, Michael Hampe, Lotfi Mansouri.

Her concert appearances include Jocasta in Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex at Alice Tully Hall with Robert Kraft; Verdi's Requiem with the New York Choral Society in Carnegie Hall; and Berlioz' Les Nuits d'été with Donald Runnicles and the San Francisco Chamber Symphony. Miss Guo has sung Verdi's Requiem, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Mahler's Third symphony in America, Germany and Taiwan.

Lyu Meng graduated from Ballet Dance School Affiliated to Liaoning Ballet. He is deputy president and principal dancer of Liaoning Ballet. He is also National-level Class-A Performer, and enjoys special allowance from State Council. 

He has achieved awards in competitions include Special Prix of the 20^th International Ballet Competition Varna (2002), the Gold Award of the 2^nd CCTV National Television Dance Competition (2002), the 'Outstanding Actor' Award of the 3^rd National Dance Drama Performance Gala (2003), the Best Actor Performance Award of the 4^th Chinese Dance Lotus Award (2004), and the Gold Award for Performance of the Japan International Dance Festival  (2004). 

His lead role appearance in repertoires include The Moon over Two Fountains, The Last Emperor, Swan Lake, Le Corsaire, Liao River · Lullaby, Don Quixote and Spartacus, among others. 

Ao Dingwen graduated from Ballet Dance School Affiliated to Liaoning Ballet. She is principal dancer of Liaoning Ballet. Her lead role appearance in repertoires include The Nutcracker, Spartacus, Le Corsaire, Swan Lake and Don Quixote, Chinese original ballet works Eight Women Fighters and Liao River · Lullaby and many other dance dramas. She is a rising ballet star among dancers born in the 1990s in Liaoning Ballet. 

She has been awarded the Special Jury Prix of the 3^rd Tokyo International Ballet Competition (2010), Gold Award of the 4^th Silicon Valley International Art Competition (Ballet Group in 2011), Silver Award of the 7^th Helsinki International Ballet Competition (Ballet, Junior Group in 2012), and Special Jury Award of the 2^nd Beijing International Ballet & Choreography Contest (Ballet Group in 2013).