The NCPA Orchestra presents a hundred concerts a year, mostly with renowned artists. It was the first in China to have resident musicians. The average age of its members is 30. .[Photo provided to China Daily]

At a time when most global opera houses are cutting their budgets, the NCPA has produced 29 operas and runs an annual opera festival presenting dozens of imported productions. To meet the demand of its big schedule, it founded its own orchestra in March 2010 and became the first theater in China to have resident musicians recruited from New York, Los Angeles, Frankfurt, Budapest and China.

Chen Zuohuang, NCPA's founding music director, served as its first chief conductor, and Lyu took over from the second season in 2012.

"I've always dreamed of conducting the best opera in China. When NCPA president, Chen Ping, approached me, he shared his ambition to produce the best operas in the world," says Lyu, who has earned fame in many European opera houses including La Scala, Deutsche Opera Berlin and Verona Opera.

"We are proud that in our first tour to North America, all the concerts will be at the major halls and within their season schedule," says Ren Xiaolong, managing director of the orchestra.

Ren says that when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed at the NCPA in February 2013, its president invited the NCPA Orchestra to perform in Chicago.

The Philadelphia Orchestra is now another close friend of the NCPA. The two orchestras signed a five-year partnership that started in 2012, and Philadelphia has become the first US orchestra to tour China in three consecutive years. In turn, Philadelphia will host its Chinese counterpart next month, the first time in its 114-year history that a Chinese orchestra will perform there.