Cao Peng is one of the most distinguished conductors in China. He was born in Jiangyin, Jiangsu in 1925. In 1946, he entered the Arts Department of Shandong University. In 1950 he was principal conductor of both the Shanghai Film Studio Orchestra and the Beijing Film Studio Orchestra. In 1955, he went to Russia to study at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory under the celebrated conductor Leo Ginsberg. Cao Peng was appointed resident conductor of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra after his return in 1961. He is now artistic director and principal conductor of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, artistic director of the Marco Polo Symphony Orchestra, music advisor and resident conductor of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and music director and principal conductor of the Shanghai Chamber Orchestra.

Can is also conductor and artistic director of the Shanghai Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, whose performance of the final movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is featured in the opening evening of the China Now Music Festival, China’s Sage of Music, on Dec 11.

Hailed by The New York Times as “the most powerful figure in China’s classical music scene,” the conductor and impresario Yu Long has devoted his illustrious career to steering China’s growing connection to classical music while familiarizing international audiences with the country’s most eminent musicians and composers. From north to south, Maestro Yu currently holds the top position in China’s three most prominent orchestras—Artistic Director of the China Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing and Music Director of both the Shanghai and Guangzhou symphony orchestras—as well as Principal Guest Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. He is co-director of Shanghai’s Music in the Summer Air festival and Chair of the Artistic Committee of the Beijing Music Festival, an annual autumn event that he founded in 1998 and served as Artistic Director until 2018. He is currently Vice President of the China Musicians Association and Chairman of its recently established League of China Orchestras. Read more.

For the 2020 China Now Music Festival, Maestro Yu has generously contributed numerous performances of Beethoven works by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra under his baton.

Lü Jia is Artistic Director of Music of National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), and Music Director of China NCPA Orchestra, and Music Director & Chief Conductor of the Macao Orchestra, prior to which he has acted as Music Director of the Verona Opera House, Italy, and Artistic Director of the Santa Cruz De Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, Spain.

Maestro Lü has conducted in as many as 2000 music concerts and operas in Europe and the United States. As the first Asian conductor assuming the director position in a national opera house of Italy, he is been proclaimed as "a conductor who has a deeper understanding of Italian operas than Italians" by Italian music commentators. In 2007, he was awarded "The President Cup" by the Italian President for his exceptional contribution and outstanding achievements in Italy, followed by the acclaim "Best Opera" of Europe for the La gazza ladra that he conducted in the "Rossini Opera Festival" held at Rossini's hometown Pesaro.

Maestro Lü conducts the China NCPA Orchestra in the closing event of the China Now Music Festival, Egmont in China, on Dec 18.