NCPA Orchestra preps for 1st North American tour

The NCPA Orchestra will tour the US and Canada in November under the baton of Lyu Jia, who also conducts the Macao Orchestra.[Photo provided to China Daily]

The orchestra at the National Center for the Performing Arts, riding a solid reputation at home and abroad, is preparing for its first concert tour ofNorth America. Chen Jie reports.

Late in the afternoon, the mellow strains of a viola drift from conductor Lyu Jia's office at the National Center for the Performing Arts. He is coaching a musician of the NCPA Orchestra, just after a three-hour rehearsal for that evening's opera concert Guglielmo Tell.

"She is talented," he says of the violist, but he has detected some small problems during a prior rehearsal, so he's taking extra time with her to smoothen any bumps.

It's not easy to catch up with Lyu, who is now chief conductor of both the NCPA Orchestra and Macao Orchestra. He flies between the two cities, spending some 20 weeks a year in each.

"The NCPA Orchestra is very young and dynamic. The average age of muscians is 30. All the members are just like that violist - passionate about music and eager to learn. I enjoy working with them and would like to share my experience and take them on the right track," says the 50-year-old Shanghai-born conductor.

Next month, the orchestra will tour the United States and Canada under the baton of Lyu and will feature pianists Yuja Wang and Xiaoyu Liu and violinist Lyu Siqing.

They will start from Chicago Symphony Center on Nov 2, then to Kennedy Center in Washingto, Lincoln Center in New York, Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, National Arts Center in Ottawa, the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and wrap up the tour at Masion Symphoique Place des Arts in Montreal on Nov 13.

The NCPA that looks like a giant bubble has become the talk of the world's performing arts industry since it opened in December 2007. Beyond its distinctive architecture, it has attracted performances by a long list of top artists and companies.