The Mariinsky Orchestra is one of the oldest musical ensembles in Russia. It can trace its history back to the early 18^th century and the development of the Court Instrumental Chapel. In the 19^th century, an extremely important role in the emergence of the Mariinsky Orchestra was played by Eduard Nápravník, who directed it for over half a century. The excellence of the orchestra was recognised on numerous occasions by the world-class musicians who conducted it, among them Berlioz, Wagner, von Bülow, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Nikisch and Rachmaninoff. In Soviet times, the ensemble’s illustrious traditions were continued by conductors such as Vladimir Dranishnikov, Ariy Pazovsky, Yevgeny Mravinsky, Konstantin Simeonov and Yuri Temirkanov.

The orchestra has had the honour of being the first to perform many operas and ballets by Tchaikovsky, operas by Glinka, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov and ballets by Shostakovich, Khachaturian and Asafiev.

Since 1988, the orchestra has been directed by Valery Gergiev, a musician of the highest order and an outstanding figure in the music world. Valery Gergiev debuted at the Mariinsky (then Kirov) Theatre in 1978. In 1988 he was appointed Music Director of the Mariinsky Theatre, and in 1996 its Artistic and General Director.

Maestro Gergiev’s arrival at the helm ushered in a new era of rapid expansion of the orchestra’s repertoire, which today includes every symphony by Beethoven, Mahler, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, Requiems by Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi, Brahms and Tishchenko and various works by composers such as Stravinsky, Gubaidulina, Kancheli and Karetnikov. The orchestra performs programmes of symphony music at prestigious concert venues throughout the world.

Under Gergiev's direction the Mariinsky Theatre has become a major theatre and concert complex, without par anywhere in the world. In 2006 the Concert Hall was opened, followed in 2013 by the theatre's second stage (the Mariinsky-II), while since 1 January 2016 the Mariinsky Theatre has had a branch in Vladivostok – the Primorsky Stage and since 2017 in Vladikavkaz. His projects hosted by the Mariinsky Theatre include media broadcasting, on-line concert broadcasts and the establishment of a recording studio.

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 quickly 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 include Zubin Mehta, Valery Gergiev, Myung-Whun Chung, Fabio Luisi, Christoph Eschenbach, Daniele Gatti, Jaap van Zweden, Shao-Chia Lü, ZHANG Xian, Rudolf Buchbinder, Lang Lang, Stephen Kovacevich, Yuja Wang, WANG Jian, 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, Bright Sheng, HUANG Ruo, Bernd Richard Deustch, 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 Music Director LÜ Jia's decade-long tenure, in 2022, the orchestra released a selection of live recordings conducted by him. 2024 saw the orchestra release its recording of the complete Bruckner symphonies, praised by Gramophone as "expressive and refulgent".

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 Sydney, Singapore, Seoul, Daegu, Abu Dhabi, Taipei and Macau. In 2014, the orchestra undertook its first North American tour and returned in 2017, during which it performed at Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony Center, Davies Symphony Hall and other major venues in the US 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 2021 saw the orchestra complete their first six-city domestic tour, followed by two national tours in March 2023 and March 2025. In 2025, the orchestra completed its first multi-country European tour, performing at the Edinburgh International Festival, Santander International Festival, and Elbphilharmonie, receiving“immediate and unanimous (ovation)” (Bachtrack), and was hailed by the Hamburger Abendblatt as "cleanly and richly sonorous...The ambition of this orchestra was unmistakably great".