From November 26 to 28, Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music 2025, hosted by the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), was successfully held in Beijing. As one of the three major forums under the framework of the World Association for Performing Arts (WAPA), the Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music was initiated by the NCPA. It is held biennially and has been successfully convened on three occasions: in 2019, 2021, and 2023.


Under the theme “Diversity Ignites Brilliance, Pioneering Elevates Excellence”, this year’s forum brought together over 300 industry representatives from more than 30 countries and regions across five continents, representing over 190 international arts institutions. Nearly 50 Chinese and international guests took the stage to share insights and proposals, jointly exploring development pathways for symphonic music in the realms of digitalization, indigenization, youth-oriented development, and diversification.

The forum’s opening ceremony took place at the NCPA on November 26, with leaders from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Beijing Municipal Government, and the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC) in attendance to address the audience. Conductor Lai Jiajing conducted the NCPA Orchestra and Chorus in performing the “Triumphal March” excerpt from the opera Aida, setting a magnificent tone for the forum and showcasing the grandeur and enduring charm of symphonic art.



During the three-day event, the forum featured four thematic sub-forums delving into the hot topics of the performing arts industry, including Festival& Season: Celebration & Cultural Phenomenon, Symphony in the Digital Age: Intelligent Evolution, Symphony Indigenization: Ethnic Roots & Transnational Flows, and Symphony Unbound: Younger, Bolder, Richer. Participants shared experiences, exchanged ideas, and reached broad consensus on topics such as the heritage and innovation of symphonic music, the integration of technology and art, and the balance between national characteristics and global similarities.

At the closing ceremony, Ms. ZHU Jing, Vice-Chairperson of WAPA and Vice-President of NCPA, announced the forum’s key outcome document-- The Beijing Consensus. This document embodies the shared vision of the global symphonic community, emphasizing the value of symphonic music as a shared art form of humanity. It advocates for an open and inclusive development environment, the innovative empowerment of digital and intelligent technologies, the contemporary transformation of national music, and the deepening and expansion of international cultural exchanges, thereby charting a course for the future development of the global symphonic cause.


The forum not only established a high-level platform for international dialogue but also achieved global simultaneous livestreaming via the NCPA Classical Music Channel, CCTV Online, and overseas social media platforms, reaching over 600,000 overseas online users. It sparked active interaction from international arts institutions and artists such as the Berlin Opera Foundation (Stiftung Oper Berlin) and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra of Switzerland, highlighting Beijing’s radiating power and influence as an international center for cultural exchange.

The successful hosting of Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music 2025 marks a significant gathering of the global symphonic community in the new era. It represents both a commitment to the intrinsic nature of symphonic art and an exploration of its future developmental path. As advocated by The Beijing Consensus, colleagues from the global industry will join hands to promote the pursuit of excellence and innovation in symphony amid diversity and cohesion, composing a more magnificent symphony for the bright future of human civilization.

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