The nine principals of the Beijing National Orchestra (BNO), led by its permanent conductor Zhang Ming, made their collective debut at the Beijing Concert Hall on the evening of 19 March, kicking off the BNO's 2022 season with a concert entitled "The Power of the Middle".
The Beijing National Orchestra 2022 season is the second season launched by the ensemble. The opening performance features nine principal pipa, zhongruan and sheng performers with nine substantial concerti. The 2022 season, which has since been officially inaugurated, comprises a total of ten concerts to be completed in one natural year. Li Changjun, Director of the Beijing National Orchestra, introduced the ten concerts, which include the "Four Seasons of China" series and the "Tribute to Masters" series, which have been held for five consecutive years, as well as the orchestra's original project, the national symphonic poem "The Grand Canal". The grand finale of the series will be held on December 7, featuring The Great Snow, a concert of the Four Seasons of China series.
In terms of collaborative conductors, this season the orchestra has invited nine conductors - Hu Yongyan, Xu Zhijun, Jin Ye, Peng Jiapeng, Wang Fujian, Wang Yongji, Liu Sha, Tan Lihua and Zhang Guoyong - to conduct. Performers such as Wu Yuxia, Cui Junzhi, Zhu Yibing, Yang Jing, Tang Junqiao, Han Lei, Kang Qiaoxuan, Wang Caiyun, Cheng Haoru and Liu Yinxuan, opera greats Wang Hongling, Gu Weiying and Zheng Xiao, as well as singer Feng Jinwei will also collaborate with the orchestra.
In addition, renowned pipa player Wu Yuxia and Zhao Dongsheng, Vice President and Secretary General of the Chinese National Orchestral Society, have been appointed as the artistic advisor and artistic director of the Beijing National Orchestra respectively. Wu Yuxia hopes that the Beijing Folk Ensemble will not only perform for the citizens of Beijing, "but more importantly also have their own aspirations, based in Beijing and facing the whole country, and more importantly, that they will go global."
