International Opening of China's National Centre for the Performing Arts to Kick Off with Prestigious New Year's Eve/Day Gala Featuring Two Performances by Legendary Conductor Seiji Ozawa and Superstar Pianist Lang Lang

International Opening of China's National Centre for the Performing Arts to Kick Off with Prestigious New Year's Eve/Day Gala Featuring Two Performances by Legendary Conductor Seiji Ozawa and Superstar Pianist Lang Lang

Beijing's National Centre for the Performing Arts, Designed by Paul Andreu, Is the Largest Performing Arts Center in the World

NEW YORK, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Following its Grand Opening, The National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing's brand-new state-of-the-art performing arts center, will launch its first international concert with special gala performances on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day featuring the China National Symphony Orchestra led by acclaimed Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa, superstar Chinese pianist Lang Lang, luminary soprano Kathleen Battle, and Russia's leading violinist Vadim Repin.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071106/NYTU044 )

Taking place December 31st, 2007, at 8 pm and January 1st, 2008, at 7:30 pm, the gala performances celebrate the highly anticipated international opening of the National Centre for the Performing Arts. Located in central Beijing, adjacent to the Great Hall of the People and Tiananmen Square, the Centre is the new Chinese locus for the performing arts and an important foundation for the creative cultural scene in China.

Designed by renowned French architect Paul Andreu, The National Centre for the Performing Arts, which features an opera house, concert hall, and two theaters, is currently the largest performing arts center in the world -- twice as big as the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Its spectacular half-dome glass structure is one of the most talked-about architectural projects of the last several years thanks to Andreu's innovative design, which reflects the modernity of the new China and excitement about its future. In 2008, the spotlight will be on Beijing as it hosts the Olympic Summer Games.

The international launch of China's foremost cultural center will be a prestigious, star-studded event. Lang Lang, whom the New York Times has praised as "the hottest artist on the classical music planet," has played sold-out concerts in every major international city. He has worked with the world's leading orchestras and most renowned conductors, and has released several CD's, each of which has topped both the classical charts. Kathleen Battle is a five-time Grammy-winning opera singer who is a favored soloist with the world's finest orchestras and esteemed conductors. She has earned countless accolades for her repertoire, which spans three centuries from the Baroque era to contemporary works, and astonished audiences and critics alike as a great interpreter of Mozart.

In addition, the program, which also features the cellist Zhao Jing, and erhu virtuoso Jiang Jianhua, includes a solo from violin virtuoso Vadim Repin, who since winning the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels at the age of 17, has appeared with the world's great orchestras under such conductors as Boulez, Gergiev, Masur, and Rostropovich. Launching himself as a Deutsche Grammophon soloist with Beethoven's Violin Concerto in 2007, he has appeared this year with the New York Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, among many others.

The China National Symphony Orchestra, one of the most outstanding professional symphony orchestras in the country, will be conducted by Seiji Ozawa, the highly sought-after Japanese maestro who is currently the music director of the Vienna State Opera. Ozawa last conducted a concert on New Year's Eve in 2002 in Vienna with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

The performance on New Year's Eve will be broadcast live in mainland China, with details being worked out to air it in other countries around the world.

To learn more about the National Centre for the Performing Arts, please visit its official website: www.nationalgrandtheater.com.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071106/NYTU044
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN4
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

Source: The National Centre for the Performing Arts

CONTACT: Pamela Murphy of Align Entertainment Group, Office,
+1-646-596-8700, or Cell, +1-917-498-0802, pamela@aligneg.com for the National
Centre for the Performing Arts

Web site: http://www.nationalgrandtheater.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment