Saturday night at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, the sixth Beijing Music Festival will feature the London Chamber Players. Under the baton of Adrian Sunshine, the British chamber orchestra will perform Mozart's Serenade for Strings in G Major, Elgar's Serenade in E minor for Strings and Haydn's Symphony No 59 in A Major.

In addition, acclaimed Chinese soloist Vera Tsu Wei-ling will play Mozart's Violin Concerto No 4 in D Major with the orchestra.

According to Zeng Wei, programme director with the Beijing Music Festival, the London Chamber Players have expressed their desire through the Chinese Embassy in London to perform at the festival since 2001. But festival programmes for last two years had been decided before they contacted the organizers, meaning they had to wait until this year to finally visit Beijing.

"Even though they have arrived two years late, they are still the first British orchestra to perform at the Beijing Music Festival," Zeng said.

Founded in 1879, the London Chamber Players is one of the finest chamber orchestras in Britain. Their members, including first violin Fiona Simon, come from London's leading orchestras and chamber ensembles.

The Chamber Players' repertoire covers a broad musical spectrum from the 17th century to contemporary works, including world premieres and exclusive commissions.

"The tradition of the stringed orchestra is very strong in Britain and each orchestra has its own character and their own sound. We recognize a chamber music by the sound they make and by the music they play. We have our own flavour and our own taste," said the orchestra's musical director Adrian Sunshine at Thursday's press conference.

"And we look upon this trip as a people-to-people visit to China, so we would like to perform some British music for the local audience and communicate with the students at the China Central Conservatory," he added.

The British violinist Fiona Simon said: "It is the first time most of the orchestra members, including me, have visited China. We are all excited about exploring your wonderful city and performing for you." Simon has also been a member of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra since 1985 and made her Philharmonic solo debut in November 1989.

Sunshine also said he asked for a Chinese musician to work with them before the tour, and violinist Tsu is a very good choice.

"I personally know no other language than music which is without boundaries in the world. Music is the international language, so although we and Vera are from different countries, speak different languages and have never met before, we play music together," Sunshine said.

He expected the partnership between Tsu and the orchestra to grow over the course of their visit.

"Today is the first date between a man and a woman, and tomorrow's rehearsal will be the engagement party, then we get married at the concert on Saturday evening."

As for Tsu, she said she feels honoured to perform with the orchestra and has prepared well. Although it's her first partnership with the London Chamber Players, she is highly skilled in Mozart's Concerto No 4 and has performed several times with other orchestras before.

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