Beijing Symphony Orchestra prepares for busy year ahead

The Beijing Symphony Orchestra (BSO) kicks off its 100-performance season at the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) on February 8, buoyed after securing unprecedented funding from the government for the year ahead.

The orchestra's opening concert for 2012 features arrangements of Zhang Qianyi's Wandering in Yunnan, Wang Xiling's Northwest Suite and The Rite of Spring by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky.

The concert looms as a prelude to a busy year ahead for the orchestra, which is slated tour both Paris and London and collaborate with world-class maestros including Christoph Eschenbach and Daniel Barenboim.

"With the government's support, we are funded this year to the tune of 50 million yuan ($7.95 million). With this kind of money, we can spearhead a rigorous performing regime and help students at Peking and Tsinghua universities through our Fine Arts into Colleges program," said the orchestra's director, Tan Lihua.

The official orchestra of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, BSO will perform Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at London's Royal Festival Hall on July 29.

The ensemble will team up with 48 musicians from the London Philharmonic Orchestra and a chorus of 120 singers.

The festivities will mark the opening of Beijing Artistic Week ahead of this year's London Olympics. Holy Fame 2008 composed by Tang Jianping's for the Beijing Olympics will also be performed at the concert.

The orchestra will have no time to rest after returning from London however, with August marking another series of key performances at the Forbidden City Summer Music Festival, which this year includes concerts at the Imperial Ancestral Temple and Zhongshan Park.

Where: NCPA, 2 Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng district

When: Wednesday, February 8, 7:30 pm

Tickets: 80-580 yuan

Contact: 6655-0000