Chinese composer Lei Lei talks about the festival. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Besides the operas produced by the NCPA, four Chinese opera companies will stage their productions during the festival, including the China National Opera House's Manas, which is based on the Kyrgyz epic Manas, a folk masterpiece; the Ningbo Performing Arts Group's Tu Youyou, based on the story of Tu Youyou, the Chinese Nobel laureate in medicine; The China Opera and Dance Drama Theatre's Liu Sanjie, which is about a folk singer of the Zhuang ethnic group; and the Hubei Opera and Dance Drama Theater's historical piece, King Zhuang of Kingdom Chu.

Apart from the performances at the NCPA, 11 opera films will be screened at universities in Beijing and NCPA opera consultant Giuseppe Cuccia will give lectures.