The press conference for the 2026/27 Concert Season of the China National Symphony Orchestra (CNSO) was recently held in Beijing. Centered on the theme "Love and Death", the new season will feature 20 symphonic concerts, six specially curated concerts, eight choral concerts and five chamber music concerts, weaving an epic musical narrative about humanity, life and emotion.

The new season assembles outstanding artists from home and abroad. Conductor Shui Lan will lead six symphonic performances including the opening and closing concerts. Conductors Chen Lin, Li Xincao and Tan Dun will take the podium in succession, joined by instrumentalists such as Daniel Lozakovich and vocalists including Peter Lodahl and Zhou Zhengzhong. Revolving around the theme "Love and Death", CNSO will present masterpieces such as the Prelude to Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, Richard Strauss’s symphonic poem Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration), Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet Suite, Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and excerpts from Vaughan Williams’s The Merchant of Venice. This season marks the 270th anniversary of Mozart’s birth and the 120th anniversary of Shostakovich’s birth; CNSO will perform Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 6 to pay tribute to the two musical giants.

Continuing its tradition of pairing Chinese and Western repertoire, the season will include more than ten works by Chinese and overseas Chinese composers, among them Guan Xia’s Earth Requiem, Chen Musheng’s Symphonic Peony Pavilion · Heaven, and He Zhanhao & Chen Gang’s Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto. Chen Yi’s violin concerto Immanence of Love will receive its world premiere this season, while Zhou Tian’s A Thousand Years of Prayer will have its Chinese premiere, blending Eastern philosophical thought with symphonic language in profound depth. To commemorate the 110th birth anniversary of Li Delun, CNSO’s permanent laureate conductor, the orchestra will stage a tribute concert next June.

Choral concerts constitute a vital segment of the new season, with eight performances covering diverse themes. To mark the 145th birth anniversary of Lu Xun, CNSO’s original choral cycle Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk will premiere this season. Additional choral programs include Spring Over the Land · Journeys Through Mountains and Rivers, a Sino-Russian choral concert "Poems and Songs of the Earth", "Listen to the Beauty", "Romantic Arias" and "Aurora" featuring global classical excerpts, plus "Youth, O Youth", an evening of choral arrangements adapted from popular hits.

For chamber music, CNSO’s Echo Trio, Forbidden City String Quartet, Mo String Quartet and Meizhe String Quartet will deliver a rich variety of ensemble works. In terms of international tours, the CNSO Chamber Orchestra will embark on a Canadian tour this September, visiting Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. In February 2027, the full CNSO orchestra will travel to Hanoi, Vietnam for two concerts to play melodies of friendship. (Outlook New Era)