Tian’s credits in Chinese modern opera include a number of world premieres: the role of General Wang in Tan Dun’s The First Emperor at the Metropolitan Opera opposite Plácido Domingo; the title role of Guo Wenjing’s Poet Li Bai in Central City Opera, also reprised in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Rome; at the San Francisco Opera, the role of Chang in Amy Tan’s Bonesetter’s Daughter; the title role in The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci in Hong Kong; and as
Mr. Pan in Le Peintre, Yu-lin with the Taiwan Philharmonia in Taipei; and most recently, Tian sang the title role in
Tang Jianping's opera Voyage to the East - A Fearless Buddhist Master's Mission to Japan at the world premiere in Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara and Osaka, and the role of Kublai Khan in Marco Polo at the world premiere in Guangzhou and Beijing in May 2018.