JIANG Ying is a first-class composer, currently composer-in-residence at the China National Symphony Orchestra. She graduated with a master’s degree from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 2010. That same year, she joined the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra as composer-in-residence. In 2013, she took up the post of composer-in-residence at the China National Traditional Orchestra.

Her representative works include Chinese orchestral works The Silk Road and Impressions Chinese Music: Grand Melody, Chinese chamber work Dunhuang, Chinese music dramas Impressions Chinese Music and Rediscover Chinese Music, orchestral works Hymn to Life and Dedication, Ode to the Years for violin and orchestra, and cultural tourism performances, Ancient Sound of Dunhuang and Forever Together‌. In 2017, she created the world’s first Chinese instrumental drama, Xuanzang’s Journey to the West, for which she served as the composer, playwright and director, successfully establishing “Chinese instrumental theatre” as a new theatre genre.

Her works have won numerous accolades at home and abroad, including the First Prize in the “18^th National Music Competition” (Wenhua Awards), the highest national award for composition, “‌Xinyi Cup” Gold Award for Chinese National Orchestral Work by Young Composer, organised by the Department of Arts of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism‌ and China Nationalities Orchestra Society, and Young Composer Award by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Her commissioned works, Impressions Chinese Music, Rediscover Chinese Music, Xuanzang’s Journey to the West and Impressions·Rediscover Chinese Music (concert version), have been staged at leading venues venues in China and abroad, including the NCPA, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo in Bogota, Telcel Theatre in Mexico City, Teatro Juárez México, Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico, ‌Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre, Tiroler Festspiele Erl, Brucknerhaus Linz‌, Munich Kammerspiele, Konzerthalle Bamberg, Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Müpa Budapest, Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, and Esplanade - Theatres On the Bay, receiving wide acclaim from audiences and critics worldwide.

PENG Jiapeng is a national first-class conductor who enjoys a government allowance from the State Council, director of the China Musicians’ Association, executive director of the Chinese Nationalities Orchestra Society, talent of the “Four Kinds in the First Batch”, and member of the 13^th National Committee of the CPPCC. He has been the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra, China Film Symphony Orchestra, China National Opera and Dance Drama Theatre, China Macao Chinese Orchestra (2003-2016), China Oriental Symphony Orchestra, Oriental Chinese Orchestra and Henan Symphony Orchestra; he has also been the permanent guest conductor of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg of Austria, Graz Symphony Orchestra, Busan National Orchestra of South Korea and Czech National Symphony Orchestra. In June 2017, he was appointed as the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Suzhou Chinese Orchestra.

Founded in 1949, China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra is a national orchestra as one of the five sub-organizations of the China Broadcasting Performing Arts Troupe. The Orchestra enjoys a great reputation at home and abroad with its long and distinguished history, high artistic standards and managerial excellence.

The Orchestra has an imposing performing lineup of nearly 100 members. Over the past seven decades, under the active advocacy and unremitting efforts of Mr. PENG Xiuwen, a famous conductor and composer in China, the Orchestra has taken the lead in establishing a basic framework unique to Chinese orchestras, comprising bowed stringed instruments, plucked stringed instruments, wind instruments and percussion instruments. It has contributed significantly to the continuous development and scientific improvement of Chinese traditional orchestras. The structure of the Orchestra has been widely adopted by many Chinese orchestras at home and abroad.

For over 70 years, the Orchestra has brought inspiration, motivation and beauty to the public with its enriching artistic practices and diverse performances. Many of the works composed and performed by the orchestra have become enduring classics. It has participated in the recording of thousands of films, TV programmes, radio programmes, tapes and CDs, making its due contribution to the radio, film and television industries in China. With its more than seventy years of artistic achievements, the orchestra has trained and nurtured many artists, constantly producing famous conductors, composers and performers well-received by audiences.

In recent years, the China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra has successively launched a series of excellent music commissions, such as the large-scale national symphonic epic Rise, large-scale national symphony Nine Bends of the Great River (selected for the 2022-2023 “Symphony of the Times” Chinese Symphony Creation Support Programme by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and funded by the China National Arts Fund in 2023), large-scale national symphony concert Memories of Chinese Music, large-scale national symphonic opera commission The Mogao Grottoes (funded by the Beijing Culture and Arts Fund in 2017), and others.

As a famous brand of Chinese music and a symbol of Chinese culture, the China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra has demonstrated to the world the richness of Chinese history and culture with its extraordinary expressive and infectious performances. The Orchestra has given many performances in Asia, Europe and the Americas, visiting more than 70 countries and regions around the world. It has made unremitting efforts and outstanding contributions to the promotion of cultural exchanges and friendship with the rest of the world, and to the introduction of Chinese culture and art to an international audience.

The China National Symphony Orchestra Choir, formerly known as Central Philharmonic Chorus, is affiliated to the China National Symphony Orchestra. The older generation of artists, including the musician LI Ling, conductor YAN Liangkun and chorus master QIU Li, made significant contribution to the establishment and development of the Choir. Its current principal conductor is WANG Linlin.

In the 1950s, when it had just come into being, the China National Symphony Orchestra Choir cut a striking figure in a chorus competition held at the World Festival of Youth and Students on behalf of China and received the Gold Award, winning glory for the motherland. In 1959, the Choir gave the successful China premiere of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 “Choral”. After the beginning of the reform and opening-up, the Choir travelled far away across the sea, touring the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, the United States and Canada. They also attended the Third World Symposium on Choral Music in Vancouver, where they performed classic Chinese choral works, achieving a great success. According to the international music community, they were no inferior to any of the world’s top choirs in terms of choral singing and voice training, and they sang in amazingly beautiful voices. As a cultural ambassador, the Choir has steadily expanded its exchange with the international choral community since the beginning of the 21^st century. They have visited over a dozen countries, including Germany, Austria, Italy, Thailand and Australia, gaining wide praise from both industry insiders and local audiences. In 2011, the Choir was invited to Italy for cooperation with Antonio Pappano, a world-renowned conductor. They worked together in performing Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 for three times at the Auditorium Parco della Musica (Sala Santa Cecilia) in Rome, receiving enthusiastic acclaim for their virtuosity. In 2024, the Choir cooperated with the Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy in giving a concert of the opera Cavalleria Rusticana, which was the first programme to be put on in China by this Academy. Their brilliant rendition of the arias was highly appreciated by Maestro Muti and widely acclaimed by critics.

The China National Symphony Orchestra Choir is duty-bound to perform on important state and diplomatic occasions. So far it has made outstanding contributions to China-foreign cultural exchange by performing at “Beautiful China & Glorious Dream”, a concert given to celebrate the 65^th Anniversary of the Founding of the P.R.C., at an evening gala held to commemorate the 70^th anniversary of the victories of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and World Anti-Fascist War, at Eternal Faith, a concert given to celebrate the 95^th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China, at Enduring Memories of Hangzhou, an evening gala held at the G20 Summit, at Our Forty Years, an evening gala held in 2018 to celebrate the 40^th Anniversary of the Reform and Opening-up, in Stride Forward, the Nation, a music and dance epic staged to celebrate the 70^th Anniversary of the Founding of the P.R.C., in Love for Haojiang River & China Heart, a theatrical performance put on to celebrate the 20^th Anniversary of Macao’s Return to China, in The Great Journey, a large-scale situational epic staged to celebrate the 100^th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China (including all choral recordings and important warm-up performances thereof), at symphony concerts held to celebrate the 101^st, 102^nd, 103^rd and 104^th Anniversaries of the Founding of the Communist Party of China, in a theatrical performance held at the Third “Belt and Road” Forum for International Cooperation, at a concert given to celebrate the 75^th Anniversary of the Founding of the P.R.C., in joint performances and events held at the Opening Ceremony of the “Year of China-North Korea Friendship”, at the evening gala and reception party held on the 80^th anniversary of the victories of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and World Anti-Fascist War, and others.

With over seven decades of artistic practice, the Choir has developed a distinctive style of its own that is plain yet elegant and grandiose yet exquisite. They can accurately interpret different styles of choral works composed in different times. In their repertoire are many Chinese and foreign masterpieces, such as The Yellow River Cantata, symphonic work Shajiabang, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, Mozart’s Requiem, and Orff’s Carmina Burana. The Choir has achieved brilliant achievements in opera performance, too, by performing in numerous well-known Chinese and international operas, including Sister JIANG, The Ballad of Mulan, La Traviata, Carmen, La Bohème, Tosca, Aida, Turandot, Der Fliegende Holländer, Cavalleria Rusticana, and others.

The Choir is active at the grassroots level all year round - by “plunging into the thick of life and taking root among the people”, it has made significant contributions to enriching the people’s cultural life. Adhering to the tenet of nurturing the root and soul of the nation, with a view to promoting cultural inheritance and innovation, the Choir will strive to hold the banner high, gather popular support, cultivate new talents, revitalise the culture and burnish the image, so as to create more insightful, artistically excellent and well-conceived masterpieces for the people.