China National Peking Opera Company
Established in January, 1955, China National Peking Opera Company (CNPOC) is one of the national ensembles of performance arts directly under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture, People's Republic of China. The first President of the theater is the Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang. The theater consists of Group One, Group Two, Group Three, Stage Art Center, the Mei Lanfang Grand Theatre, and People's theater (Opera Movies and TV Shooting and Performing Center). Since its founding, the theater has brought together a large number of outstanding performing artists and playwrights, directors, composers, stage artists, etc., who enjoy a high reputation both at home and abroad, such as the Performing arts master Li Shao-chun, Yuan Shihai, Ye Shenglan, Du Jinfang, Li Hezeng, Zhang Yunxi, Zhang Chunhua, Li Shiji, the famous director A Jia, the esteemed playwright Weng Ouhong, Fan Junhong and so on. With a galaxy of elites, CNPOC has been built into Peking Opera performing art groups of great strength. Over 50 years, the theater has inherited, composed, and staged more than 500 traditional historical dramas of excellence, new historical dramas and modern Peking operas with different themes and genres. Basically, it is possessed of an art spirit of innovation, with expertise in inheriting, borrowing and shaping characters, and it forms a rigorous artistic style with profound ideological content, fresh stage, various schools, and neat lineup. The operas of CNPOC have extensive impacts and wins the audience’s favor, on behalf of the repertoire has “Wild Boar Forest”, “Three Attacks on Zhu Village”, “On the Cross Road”, “Legend of the White Snake”, “Jiujiang River Mouth”, “Sun An’s Angry”, “Xie Yaohuan”, “Lady General Mu Takes Command”, “"Havoc in Heaven”, “The Rive All Red”, Women General of Yang Family”, “The Red Lantern”, “Fighting On the Plains”, “The Red Detachment of Women”, “Chuncao Chuang Tang”, “Butterflies Lingering over Flowers”, “Fright in Han Palace”, “Shouma Royal Official”, “Sister Jiang”, “Turandot”, “Lushui River and Yi Mountain”, “Princess Wencheng”, “Shadow of Willow” etc. During years of artistic creation, and international and domestic performance appraisals, the theater has more than 40 plays and over 100 people winning all sorts of awards. In recent years, National Peking Opera Theatre is always on the list of the domestic significant awards, for example, "Wenhua Award", "Five One Project Award", “the China Peking Opera Festival Gold Award”, "National Fine Stage Arts Project", "Mei Lanfang Gold Award", "Plum Blossom Award" and so on. Peking Opera Company is charged with the important task of cultural exchanges with foreign countries, and constantly sends art troups performing around the world, which have visited 50 countries and regions, five continents, winning a good international reputation. To promote Sino-foreign cultural exchanges, enhance the friendship between Chinese people and the people of the world, it makes a positive contribution. The current President of the National Peking Opera is Song Guanlin, the Vice President and the Secretary of the Party Committee Liu Xiaohua, the Vice President Yin Xiaodong, Vice President and Artistic Director Yu Kuizhi, the Director of the Arts Steering Committee and the Artistic Director Liu Changyu.