Music Director Xian Zhang Named Principal Guest Conductor of China NCPA Orchestra

MUSIC DIRECTOR XIAN ZHANG NAMED PRINCIPAL GUEST CONDUCTOR OF CHINA NCPA ORCHESTRA

Xian Zhang conducts China NCPA Orchestra

Beijing, China — On September 19, 2025, as the China NCPA Orchestra launches its 2025/2026 season, "Back to the Future," it officially announces the appointment of Xian Zhang as its Principal Guest Conductor, effective from the new season. While Lü Jia continues to lead the orchestra as Music Director, Zhang's role as Principal Guest Conductor will further strengthen the artistic development of the China NCPA Orchestra. This appointment also marks a significant milestone and elevation of the decade-long collaboration between the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) and Zhang.

As one of the most prominent conductors on the global stage, Xian Zhang is entering her 10th year as Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony and began her tenure as Music Director of the Seattle Symphony in September of this year. With these appointments, she has become the first female Music Director in the Seattle Symphony's over 120-year history. Following her tenure as Music Director of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano between 2009-2016, she continues as it's Conductor Emeritus. Previously, Zhang served as Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

As a guest conductor, Zhang frequently appears with many of the world's leading orchestras and arts institutions, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony and the London Symphony Orchestra. She is widely praised for her dynamic, emotionally charged and meticulously refined artistic style. The New York Classical Review once noted that she “has an exceptional ear for balance, as well as the ability to draw the softest, most transparent tones imaginable from the orchestra.”

As a conductor who began her career at the Central Conservatory of Music in China and later ascended to international stages, Zhang has always held a special affection for Beijing. Her cooperation with the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) dates back many years. Throughout this time, she has appeared on the NCPA’s stage with touring international symphony orchestras and has led several of its opera productions, including Turandot. Meanwhile, she has also been a frequent guest conductor with the China NCPA Orchestra, endearing herself to music lovers in Beijing as a world-class Chinese conductor.

Since Zhang first conducted the China NCPA Orchestra in 2015, their decade-long collaboration has produced countless memorable moments. The orchestra's vitality, discipline, and cohesion left a profound impression on Zhang, while her powerful stage presence and emotional depth made her a highly respected and beloved long-term artistic partner. This mutual appreciation and deep understanding ultimately led the orchestra to invite Zhang to assume the role of Principal Guest Conductor, solidifying their friendship and opening a new chapter in their collaboration.

Upon learning of her appointment, Zhang expressed her gratitude to the NCPA, Music Director Lü Jia and all the orchestra members for their trust. She said, "The development and rise of the NCPA and its orchestra over the past decade have exceeded all my expectations and filled me with immense pride. This appointment reflects the deep mutual trust between us and is a natural outcome of our shared musical vision and spiritual connection."

The musicians and team of the China NCPA Orchestra eagerly anticipate Zhang's arrival as Principal Guest Conductor. Music Director Lü Jia remarked, "On behalf of all the orchestra members and colleagues, I warmly welcome Xian Zhang. I look forward to her sharing the artistic experience and inspiration she has gained on the international stage with the orchestra and our audiences."

Li Zhe, the Executive Director of China NCPA Orchestra, added, "We hope that Maestro Xian Zhang will infuse the orchestra with fresh energy and diverse artistic styles, drawing on her exceptional artistic achievements and broad international perspective."

As Principal Guest Conductor, Zhang will appear more frequently on the NCPA stage for Beijing audiences. She aims to lead the orchestra in at least two symphony programs each season. In the China NCPA Orchestra's newly announced 2025/2026 season, Zhang will present two such offerings: one featuring violin concertos by Prokofiev and Bruch performed with violinist Tianwa Yang, alongside Rachmaninoff's passionately Romantic Symphony No. 2; and another showcasing piano concertos by Ravel and Qigang Chen with pianist Haochen Zhang, as well as Mozart's Symphony No. 39.

Looking ahead to future collaborations, Zhang shared her excitement: "I deeply admire Lü Jia's dedication to and artistic leadership of the China NCPA Orchestra over the years, which have made it one of the finest ensembles, representing the energy, quality and vision that you see throughout China today. I look forward to working closely with everyone to explore diverse musical styles and expressions, uncovering endless inspiration and potential together. I also hope to create more deeply moving experiences for our audiences."

XIAN ZHANG MUSIC DIRECTOR

GRAMMY™ and Emmy-winning conductor Xian Zhang begins her tenure as the Music Director of the Seattle Symphony this 2025/2026 season. Xian is a long-term collaborator with the Symphony, debuting at Benaroya Hall in 2008. Since then, she has fostered a special relationship with Seattle, supporting the Symphony throughout the height of the pandemic; she was one of the first conductors to return to the stage with our orchestra.  

As Music Director, Xian has helped plan a season in which she conducts 10 blockbuster programs beginning with the Opening Night Concert. Then, it’s on to Mussorgsky, Rachmaninov, Beethoven, Saint-Saëns, Dvorák, Mozart, Gershwin, Mahler and other big names in symphonic music, with the season’s centerpiece Qigang Chen’s Peking opera-inspired Iris Dévoilée (Iris Unveiled), a Seattle Symphony debut paired with Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. Works by living composers will be scattered all throughout her concerts and those she helped envision, with Artist in Focus Steven Mackey premiering his Saxophone Concerto in the fall, then appearing to perform his RIOT with Xian at the season’s end.

Alongside her role here, she is in her 10th season as Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony; she also holds the position of Conductor Emeritus of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano (Italy). As a guest conductor, she appears regularly with Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra and The Philadelphia Orchestra — her 2022 recording with the latter and Time for Three, Letters for The Future (Deutsche Grammophon), won two GRAMMYs. Recent and future highlights include Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, The Metropolitan Opera (Madama Butterfly 2023/2024; Tosca 2024/2025) and Finnish National Opera (Tosca 2025/2026).

CHINA NCPA ORCHESTRA

The China NCPA Orchestra is the resident orchestra of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing, under the artistic leadership of Music Director Lü Jia. Since its founding in 2010, the orchestra has quickly established itself as one of the most adventurous and dynamic musical ensembles in the country, earning widespread international recognition through extensive performances at home and abroad.

Acclaimed for its artistic excellence, the orchestra has performed in over 70 opera productions at the NCPA, spanning classical masterpieces and contemporary commissions. Beyond the opera pit, it presents a full season of symphonic programmes each year and has collaborated with many of the world’s leading artists. The ensemble has also garnered praise for its recording projects, including a complete cycle of Bruckner symphonies, hailed by Gramophone as “expressive and refulgent,” as well as acclaimed releases of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Egmont.

The orchestra maintains an active international touring profile. In its first North American tour in 2014 and a return in 2017, the orchestra performed at prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony Center, and Davies Symphony Hall, with Musical America praising its “joyful confidence and youthful strength.” In 2025, the orchestra completed its first multi-country European tour, with performances at the Edinburgh International Festival, Santander International Festival, and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, receiving “immediate and unanimous ovation” (Bachtrack) and acclaim from Hamburger Abendblatt for its “cleanly and richly sonorous sound” and “unmistakably great” ambition.

SEATTLE SYMPHONY?

Under the leadership of Music Director Xian Zhang, the Seattle Symphony unleashes the power of music, brings people together and lifts the human spirit. Recognized as one of the “most vital American orchestras” (NPR), the Seattle Symphony is internationally acclaimed for its inventive programming, community-minded initiatives and superb recordings on the Seattle Symphony Media label. With a strong commitment to new music and a legacy of over 150 recordings, the orchestra has won five Grammy Awards, 27 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and was named Gramophone’s 2018 Orchestra of the Year. The Symphony performs in Benaroya Hall in the heart of downtown Seattle from September through July, reaching over 750,000 people annually through live performances and radio broadcasts.

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Music Director Xian Zhang is generously sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Charles and Lisa Simonyi and an anonymous donor.
Xian Zhang’s position is generously underwritten as the Harriet Overton Stimson Music Director.