Shanghai Grand Opera House Opens on Oct 17, New Season Announced

The Shanghai Grand Opera House, the city's highly-anticipated new cultural landmark, announced today its inaugural performance season, "Born to Sing." 

Spanning from October through February next year, the season features 47 productions in 82 performances and over 100 arts-education activities, covering opera, concerts, dance, Chinese traditional opera, and more.

The lineup includes masterpieces by internationally renowned artists and companies, alongside original Chinese works of excellence.

The opening concert on October 17 will also serve as the inaugural event of the 25th China Shanghai International Arts Festival.

Titled "Shanghai Grand Opera House and Friends," the concert will make full use of the Chinese fan-shaped venue's indoor and outdoor spaces, bringing together the city's strongest homegrown musical forces: conductors Zhang Guoyong, Yu Long and Xu Zhong, as well as singers Liao Changyong and Shi Yijie.

They will join the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Opera House Orchestra and Chorus, and the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra to present an operatic feast featuring classical and contemporary repertoire.

Three major world opera productions will have their Asian premieres in the Harmony Hall of the Grand Opera House in October and November: the new production of "Tosca" by Teatro La Fenice; a new staging of "Aida" by Valery Gergiev with the Mariinsky Theatre; and "Der Rosenkavalier" conducted by Christian Thielemann with the Berlin State Opera. These will be the only Asian stops for all three operas.

Two complete symphony "marathons" will take place in the Grand Opera House's Soar Theater: Gergiev and the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra will perform all 15 Shostakovich symphonies to mark the composer's 120th birthday.

Rudolf Buchbinder and the Berlin State Opera Orchestra will take the stage in early November to present the complete Beethoven piano concertos.

Yuja Wang and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra will follow with a concert, in which the pianist will simultaneously serve as soloist and ensemble leader, making their Shanghai debut in a "conductorless" format.

In dance, the Grand Opera House will host a number of premiere performances and Shanghai residencies of outstanding works.

The American Ballet Theater will visit Shanghai for the first time with the classic "Swan Lake."

The much-beloved Eifman Ballet of St Petersburg will make its first Shanghai residency in December, presenting three literary ballet adaptations: "Crime and Punishment," "Eugene Onegin," and "Anna Karenina." Among them, "Crime and Punishment" will be a China premiere.

On the Chinese original front, the dance drama "Sanxingdui" by Yunnan Dian-Kun Group, with artistic direction by Yang Liping, will make its Shanghai premiere. Also making a Shanghai debut is the contemporary dance work "Mindscape," co-presented by Guangdong Modern Dance Company and Shen Wei Dance Arts.

The new season covers the new year and Spring Festival period. "The Nutcracker," co-produced by the Shanghai Grand Theatre and Shanghai Ballet, will be staged at the year-end. On December 31, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will close out 2026 with a concert at the Grand Opera House.

Following that, a series of Chinese traditional opera performances will bring an Eastern-flavored celebration to the Grand Opera House's first Spring Festival.

Critically acclaimed "made in Shanghai" stage productions will also take the stage in the new season, including the Shanghai Opera House's "Turandot" and the Shanghai Dance Theater's "The Eternal Wave."

According to Zhang Xiaoding, general manager of the Shanghai Grand Opera House Management Co, the new venue adheres to the principles of public accessibility, artistic excellence, and international outreach. While establishing itself as a world-class venue for opera and top-tier performing arts, it is equally committed to presenting outstanding original Chinese works to the world.

After six years of construction, the Shanghai Grand Opera House now boasts Asia's leading stage hardware and facilities. Upon its October opening, it will become Shanghai's most advanced comprehensive grand theater, capable of hosting the widest variety of performance genres.