LEI Lei is a famous composer, who composed music for the NCPA opera commissions Xishi and The Chinese Orphan.

LEI Lei is now Art Director of the China Oriental Performing Arts Group Co., Ltd. and a national first-class composer enjoying special government allowances from the State Council, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a council member of the China Musicians Association and Vice Chairperson of the Music Copyright Society of China.

Frequently, LEI Lei has served as an expert jury member of the “Five-One Project” Award and various other music or singing competitions organised by CNR, CCTV, the Ministry of Culture, etc.

LEI Lei has composed music for a dozen films, including Thrown Together by Fate, In Love, Unexpected Passion, etc., and hundreds of serialized dramas such as New Four Generations Living Together, Police in Plain Clothes, Longing, Stories of an Editorial Board, Shanghai Family, Home With Kids, The Big Case on the Mekong River, etc. The theme songs of some films and TV dramas, like Fight for Renascence, Dauntless Youth, Longing, The Good Life of Peace, Devotion to Love, I Believe One Day, Home With Kids, are well-known and have won many grand awards.

YI Ming is a songwriter and opera librettist. He used to be a member of the Seventh Founding Committee of Chinese Musicians' Association, and now is an editorial board member of CIKAN, a lyrics periodical run by the Chinese Musicians' Association, a member of the Beijing Writers Association, a distinguished professor at the Fine Arts School of Shandong University, and guest professor at the College of Humanities, Northeast Normal University.

He has created lyrics for theme songs of hundreds of films and television dramas, such as Desire, Water Margin, The Great Mansion Gate, The Granary, Honest Official YU Chenglong, CAO Xueqin, Courtyard of Family QIAO, Memoirs in China, The Three Kingdoms (New Version) and The Big Case on the Mekong River. His works, which enjoy widespread influences and have won numerous awards, include film and television songs such as Good Wish to Good Men, Favourable Climatic, Geographical and Human Conditions, A Song to Tough Guys, The Great Mansion Gate, Remote Love, as well as artistic songs, including: The Greatest Love in the World and Yueyang Tower Tonight. His works - Roaring Drums of the Yellow River and Surging Emotions of All Ages -are successively selected for “Five-One” Project Award by Publicity Department of CPC.

Opera scripts of Visitors on the Snow Mountain and WU Zetian and musical drama script of Echoes from Hong’an were created by YI Ming.

LÜ Jia is Artistic Director of Music of National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), and Music Director of China NCPA Orchestra, and Music Director & Chief Conductor of the Macao Orchestra, prior to which he has acted as Music Director of the Verona Opera House, Italy, and Artistic Director of the Santa Cruz De Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, Spain.

LÜ Jia has conducted in as many as 2000 music concerts and operas in Europe and the United States. The world renowned opera houses and symphony orchestras he has cooperation with include: Teatro alla Scala, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Lyon National Orchestra, etc.

As the first Asian conductor assuming the director position in national opera house of Italy, he is proclaimed as "a conductor who has a deeper understanding of Italian operas than Italians" by the Italian music commentators. In 2007, he was awarded "The President Cup" by the Italian President for his exceptional contribution and outstanding achievements made in Italy, followed by the acclaim as the "Best Opera" of Europe for the La gazza ladra that he conducted in "Rossini Opera Festival" held at Rossini's hometown Pesaro.

CHEN Xinyi is a famous dramatist, director and playwright. She has been engaged in drama creation for nearly 70 years. In the first 30 years, she worked as a traditional opera, film and drama performer. Later, she started to direct stage dramas, write scripts and teach the drama art. Until now, she has directed more than 130 dramas, and she was one of the first persons to be named national first-class directors. As a “Drama Artist who has Made a Special Contribution to the Country”, she enjoys special government allowances from the State Council of the PRC. She is an honourary director at the Beijing People’s Art Theatre, an honourary professor at the Central Academy of Drama, a visiting professor at the Shanghai Theatre Academy, a drama art consultant to the Actors Troupe of Shanghai Film Group, and an honourable member of the International Stage Art Network (iSTAN). She was awarded the title of “Chinese Cultural Personage” in 2012

In 1984, CHEN Xinyi was transferred to Beijing as a talented person, serving as Deputy Managing Director and Chief Director of the China Railway Art Ensemble. In 1998, she was transferred to the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture (later renamed Shanghai Municipal Administration of Radio and Television, now Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism) as a talented person, serving as a director. In 2019, she founded the CHEN Xinyi Arts Centre in Shanghai and assumed office as Artistic Director. That same year, she became Chairperson of the Theatre Working Committee & World Theatre Education Alliance at the invitation of the Chinese Culture Promotion Society.

The dramas directed by CHEN Xinyi have won the Wenhua Award for 14 times in ten consecutive years, including the Grand Wenhua Award for four times. She wrote a libretto for the Huagnmei opera Huizhou Women, winning the CAO Yu Drama Literature Award. She has won the “Five-One Project” Award by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee several times, as well as carried off various other drama awards at the China Theatre Festival, the China Art Festival, the China Peking Opera Art Festival and the theatre festivals held in various provinces and cities. Her Peking opera Flourishing Age of Zhenguan and drama SHANG Yang were shortlisted for China’s first Top Ten National Projects to the Distillation of the Stage Art, ranking first. Her children’s drama Red Scarf and Peking opera MEI Lanfang were shortlisted for the Third National Project to the Distillation of the Stage Art as two of China’s Top Ten Stage Dramas. Her opera ZHANG Qian won the First Grand Wenhua Award for Opera and won her the First Director Award by the Central Academy of Drama. Her Peking operas Flourishing Age of Zhenguan and MEI Lanfang won the Gold Award at the Third and Fourth China Peking Opera Art Festival. She directed Othello for the First China International Shakespeare Festival, winning the China Golden Lion Award for Drama. As director of the drama The Wilderness, she won the First Special Director Award by the Beijing People’s Art Theatre and Founder Group. In 2019, she won the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Drama at the One Drama Awards.

For ten consecutive years, CHEN Xinyi has produced eight operas and dramas for the NCPA, including Turandot, La Bohème, A Village Teacher, The Chinese Orphan, Visitors on the Snow Mountain, Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice and LAN Huahua. In 2012, Turandot won her the Best Director Award at the First Denny Award in Beijing for International Excellence in Theatrical Arts, the Shanghai Magnolia Director Award and the First Award for Promoting Chinese Culture. In 2016, Visitors on the Snow Mountain won the Gold Award in the Fifth Minorities Art Festival of China. That same year, she successfully directed an extraordinary concert of Chinese symphonic poems for the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra for Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang Dynasties in Hong Kong. She directed symphonic poem Cry to Earth to mark the 80^th anniversary of The Long March. Her version of Hamlet was performed to celebrate the 400^th birthday of Shakespeare, winning high praise. In 2017, she created two more classics for the NCPA - Shakespearean play The Merchant of Venice and Chinese opera commission LAN Huahua. In 2018, she served as a key lecturer in the Opera Director Training Class offered by the China National Arts Fund. Later in June, directed the Han opera commission Long Song of Silk Robe at the China Wuhan Han Opera Theatre, with the opera successfully premiered at the Qintai Grand Theatre to celebrate the 100^th birthday of Han opera master CHEN Bohua. In October 2018, she directed The Gin Game, a drama starring LU Yan and GUAN Dongtian, for “Dialogue with LU Yan” held in the British Library.

Director CHEN Xinyi has travelled abroad many times for various international art festivals and cultural exchange activities where she would give lectures. She gave academic reports on the creation of operas The Chinese Orphan and Turandot, dramas The Wilderness and Hamlet, etc. at the UK Research and Development Centre for Chinese Traditional Culture (UKCTC), University of Leeds, Chinese British Research Institute, British American Drama Academy (BADA), University of Cambridge, Royal Central School of Speech & Drama (RCSSD), British Library, Technische Universität München (TUM), Confucius Institute Munich, Department of Sinology of College of East Asian Politics of University of Bonn, Weimar Germany, Former Residence of Nietzsche in Naumburg, Germany, etc., making outstanding contributions to the spread of the Chinese Culture. She also took part in the 60^th National Day Fellowship Activity at the TUM Auditorium, attended the TUM Symphony Orchestra’s Christmas concert held at the Philharmonic Hall, and obtained the golden emblem of TUM. The Gin Game, the first drama to be presented by the CHEN Xinyi Arts Centre, was highly acclaimed by people from all walks of life. In July 2020, she presented classic Shakespearean play Othello with an all-actress cast and announced the opening of the “CHEN Xinyi Arts Centre Artist Club” after the first round of performances.

In 1989, SUN Daqing was admitted to the Stage Art Department of the Central Academy of Drama as a major in Stage Art Design. He obtained his Master’s degree in 1997 and continued to teach at the university. He is the Dean, Professor and Ph.D. Supervisor of Stage Art Department of the Central Academy of Drama, Member of Education Committee of International Organization of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians (OISTAT), Vice President of China Institute of Stage Design (CISD), Chairman of Character Image Design Teaching Alliance of Higher Education Institutions in Beijing and Academic Host of International Stage Design Students’ Works Exchange (ISDSWE).

As a stage design teacher for a long time, SUN Daqing remains devoted to academic research and artistic creation practices. In the past two decades, he has contributed to stage art design for dozens of dramas, musicals, traditional Chinese operas, operas, dance dramas and puppet shows, including Cirque Ingeneiux, The Little Prince, Under the Ginkgo Tree, Qiankun Belt, Cui Hua, Serve Pickled Cabbage, True Man, Twelfth Night and Ivona, Princess of Burgundia. He is a winner of China Golden Lion Award for Drama, the 4^th Innovation Award by Ministry of Culture, CISD Award by China Institute of Stage Design and many other important professional awards in the country. His stage design works have been included into many domestic and international authoritative albums, such as World Stage Art (1990-2005), Chinese Stage Art (1983-1999), Chinese Stage Art (2000-2010), Selected Works of One Hundred Chinese Stage Designers, Beijing Stage Design Invitation Exhibition (2011), etc. Until now, his professional articles with about 700,000 Chinese characters have been published on professional journals and publications.

Majoring in Costume and Makeup Design, WU Junxi graduated from the Stage Art Department of the Central Academy of Drama.

His main costume and makeup design works include operas Turandot, La bohème, The Red Guards on Honghu Lake, The Nose, Earthen Building and SU Wu; dramas Rhinoceros, Chronicle of Jiashen Year, Don Giovanni and Theatre Sans Animaux; Yangko drama Women of Mizhi and Men of Suide, musicals Unending Song along Nine Courier Stations in Guizhou, Falling in Love with the Sea That Summer and Emperor Shun; children’s dramas A Flying Dream, Andersen, Rubik’s Building, Queen’s New Suit, Red Kid and Sunbird.

WU Junxi’s design and performance works have won Best Creativity Award of Chinese Young Fashion Designers’ Creative Fashion Design Competition, CISD Award by China Institute of Stage Design, China Population Culture Award, Special Award of Wenhua Grand Prix, “Five-One” Project Award by Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China and Award of National Project to the Distillation of the Stage Art. His works have participated in many large-scale exhibitions, such as “Prague Quadrennial” (an international stage art exhibition), Exposition théâtrale sino-française (the Sino-French stage visual art exhibition) and Fashion Show themed, “Night of Masters”.

From 1974 to 1979, Vinicio Cheli worked at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino on various productions. From 1979 to 1989, he worked at the Milan Beak Theatre with Giorgio Strehler on lighting design for all productions. In 1987 and the four years that followed, he cooperated with many directors in creating works for the Rossini Opera Festival. From 1989 onward, he had enjoyed good collaboration with the Salzburger Festspiele, Theatre des Champs-Elysees, Le Théâtre du Châtelet and Teatro alla Scala. He has cooperated with the Teatro La Fenice for many years.

In the 1990s, Vinicio Cheli cooperated with many renowned opera houses and festivals, including the Opéra de la Bastille, Statni Opera Praha, Festival de Musique d’Aix-en-Provence, Ravenna Festival, Palais Garnier, Salzburger Osterfestspiele, Liceu Opera Barcelona, Atticus Odeon Athens, Shiki Theatre Company in Ginza Tokyo, Verona Arena, Amsterdam Opera House, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, Opéra National du Capitole de Toulouse, Teatro Real, and Metropolitan Opera. He has cooperated with many masters including P. L. Picchi, Ezio Frigerio, Hugo De Ana, Gruber, Henin Brockhaus, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, etc.

In the new century, Vinicio Cheli has had deeper collaborations with Ezio Frigerio, Hugo De Ana, F. Zeffirelli, Valery Gergiev, Claudio Abbado, Nicola Joel, Quirino Candy, Mario Gas, etc. They have jointly produced the vast majority of popular operas. In 2010, he worked on Rossini’s La Donna del lago, a version directed by Louis Pascual, with Ezio Frigerio as Set Designer and Franca Scuagipino as Costume Designer, and worked on Boris Godunov, a version directed by Andrei Konchalovsky. In early 2011, he worked on Feeling, a new opera produced with Hugo De Ana as Director, Set Designer and Costume Designer. In May 2011, he participated in the NCPA’s production of Tosca, directed by Giancarlo del Monaco. In June, he appeared at the Syros Aegean Sea Art Festival and worked on Medea, an opera directed by Teoderakis. In November, he worked on Sleeping Beauty, the first ballet to be staged to reopen the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia. Vinicio Cheli teaches theatre lighting design at the Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milano and Scala Vocational School.

Sergio Metalli has served as the video projection designer for six operas including the NCPA operas Der Fliegende Holländer, Nabucco and Il Trovatore. With astounding talent, he has acquired the opportunity to cooperate with well-known artists, including Mietta Corry, Hugo de Ana, Lindsay Kemp, Pierre Ali, Luca Ronconi, William Randy, and Peter Stein. In a career spanning over 10 years, Metalli has participated in more than 360 productions.

Recently, Sergio Metalli has engaged in large-scale projects including the Opening Ceremony of the Reina Sofía Palace of the Arts, Valencia, held in the presence of the Spanish Queen, the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Theatre Roméo et Juliette, the Teatro Real Dolores, the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma Das Rheingold and Mosè in Egitto, the Teatro alla Scala Il Prigioniero, the Los Angeles Opera Fidelio, the Opernhaus Zürich La Forza del Destino, the Palais des Congres de Paris and English National Opera Zayed and Dream, the Teatro Colón Buenos Aires La Bohème.

During the International Performing Arts Festival held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Metalli shared his experience at a workshop entitled, “Virtual Reality”, which was attended by the world’s top set designers, directors, architects and theatre directors. Furthermore, the Accademia Teatro all Scala invites Metalli to deliver a lecture on virtual visual design every year.

JIN Miaomiao is a teacher, Associate Professor and Head of Repertoire and Performance Teaching and Research Section of the Chinese Folk Dance Department, Beijing Dance Academy. She is not only a winner of “Wenhua Director Award”, but also a “Young Top-notch Talent of Beijing Higher Education Institutions”.

She successively contributed to CCTV Spring Festival Gala for Year 2005, 2006 and 2010, at which her dance work Leap for Spring won the Second Prize of “Audience’s Choice of CCTV Spring Festival Gala”. She served as Dance Director of the film A Simple Noodle Story, Dance Director of the full-length children’s drama Monster Castle, Executive Director of traditional Chinese dance evening party entitled “Dancing Rhyme • Search for the Source” by Hong Kong Dance Co., Ltd, Chief Director of scenario-based audiovisual play Liyouli for Bouyei people and Executive Director of full-length traditional Chinese dance work Golden Peacock. Choreographed and produced by her, dance poem Deep Love for Hometown won “Wenhua Outstanding Play Award” of the 14^th Wenhua Award Competition, Wenhua Director Award, Gold Award for Dance Drama and Dance Poem in the 9^th “Lotus Awards” China National Competition and the First Prize of the 5^th Fujian Provincial Arts Festival. Choreographed by her, Water Girl and An Old Couple won Gold Medal of “Lotus Awards” China National Dance Competition. Lifting the Veil won “Excellent Play Award” of the 3^rd CCTV Dance Competition and “Excellent Work Award” of Theatrical Artworks Collection in Celebration of the 55^th Anniversary of the Founding of the PRC. Auspicious Tree won Gold Award of the 9^th National Dance Competition.

TIAN Dan has served as a make-up designer for the NCPA opera commissions Visitors on the Snow Mountain, and Jinsha River, and a deputy make-up designer for Tannhäuser, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, and Norma.

TIAN Dan is a doctoral tutor at the Department of Stage Art of the Central Academy of Drama and Secretary of the CPC Leading Group of the Department of Stage Art.

In 2021, she served as a costume designer for the Central Academy of Drama’s drama Mozart; a costume and make-up designer for The Taming of the Shrew 2019, one of the best dramas to be staged at the 2019 International Theatre Festival, and Servant of Two Masters, a drama staged at the International Festival of Theater Schools of the BRICS Countries held in Russia. She has also served as a make-up designer for The Cherry Orchard, a drama produced in cooperation with a Russian director, Country of Bygones, a play staged at Theatre Olympics, Into The Woods, a musical produced with an American director, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a drama produced with a Swiss director, Crazy For You, a musical produced with an American director, Southeast the Peacock Flies, a drama presented with the China Golden Statue Award for Film and TV Make-up, the opening ceremony of the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, Fame, a musical produced with an American director, Lycko - Pers resa, a drama produced with a Swiss director, the musical Hypocrite, and Don Giovanni, Hamlet, Family and Antigone, dramas produced with French directors.

HUANG Xiaoman is an opera music director, a national first-class performer, a pianist, Directing Manager of China NCPA Chorus, a council member of the China Musicians Association, a delegate to the Seventh National Congress of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Vice Chairman of the Dongcheng District Federation of Literary and Art Circles of Beijing City, and Chairman of the Dongcheng District Musicians Association. She used to be Vice President of China National Opera House. She is also a member of the Ministry of Culture “Evaluation Committee of Senior Professional Titles”, the “Wenhua Award” Jury and the “National Project to the Distillation of the Stage Art” Jury, and an expert who enjoys special government allowances from the State Council.

HUANG Xiaoman began to learn the piano at a young age and later graduated from the Piano Department of the Central Conservatory of Music. She joined the China National Opera House in 1976. During her decades of opera career, she has accumulated about 100 Chinese and foreign classical operas in her repertoire, and served as a music director and artistic director in many operas. In 2000, she served as Vice President of the China National Opera House. In 2009, she participated in the establishment of China NCPA Chorus.

In 1999, HUANG Xiaoman planned and launched “Chinese and Foreign Art Song Concert” series; she served as the chief planner and artistic director of “Chinese Heart”, a large-scale concert held on Tiananmen Square to celebrate the Return of Macao, and won the “National Excellent Performance Award” by the Ministry of Culture that same year. In 2000, her story was reported on CCTV “Son of the Orient”. In 2001, she acted as the chief planner and artistic director of the “World’s Top Three Tenors’” concert held at the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City, Beijing in order to bid for the “Olympic Games”. Since 2002, she has been a jury member of the Bel Canto Group and Chorus Group in the CCTV Young Singers’ Grand Prix; in 2011 and 2014, she served as a judge for the CCTV Piano and Violin Competition. Since 2008, she has served as the music director in the CPA opera commissions including Xishi, The Orphan of Zhao, A Village Teacher, The Ballad of Canal, Visitors on the Snow Mountain, FANG Zhimin, The Long March, The Dawns Here Are Quiet (performed for exchange in Russia), LAN Huahua, etc.

DONG Dai is Assistant Conductor of the China NCPA Chorus. She is a graduate of the Conducting Department of the China Conservatory of Music, where she once studied under Pro. LI Xincao, President of the China Conservatory of Music and renowned conductor. Now she is studying for a doctor’s degree in opera conducting at the Conducting Department of the China Conservatory of Music.

Since she took office as Assistant Conductor of the China NCPA Chorus, DONG Dai has been involved in the rehearsal of the NCPA’s numerous Chinese and foreign operas and concerts under the careful guidance of many artists, including LI Xincao and LÜ Jia, accumulating invaluable experience in rehearsing operas and artistic choral works. She has attended lots of international masterclasses given by maestros including Ulrich Windfuhr, Alexander Polishchuk, Daniele Rosina and Mikhail Golikov, gaining a wealth of practical experience. In 2023, she planned and conducted the China NCPA Chorus in delivering a concert entitled, “Adventures in Music”. She takes an active part in art activities for public wellbeing, goes deep into schools and communities for elegant art popularisation, and plays an active role in arts management, such as organising a music season for the China NCPA Chorus.

During her school years, DONG Dai served as Assistant Conductor of the China Conservatory of Music Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and shared the stage with the China National Symphony Orchestra, China Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra, Tianjin Symphony Orchestra, Gansu Opera House, etc. She worked as Associate Conductor of the concert version of opera Carmen, and successfully rehearsed operas La Bohème, The Wilderness and Tosca, chamber opera commissions Tulip and DU Liniang, symphonic works My Motherland and Red Symphony, etc. She held a solo concert entitled “Unique Classical” in 2020 and a solo concert entitled, “A Unique Encounter” in 2023.