The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, which won the Juno and Grammy awards, launched its perform on Tuesday at the Macao Cultural Center as part of its Asia tour this year.

Conducted by award-winning composer and pianist, Maestro Bramwell Tovey, the orchestra was scheduled to perform eight concerts in six cities across South Korea, the Chinese mainland and the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR).

To give the fans a fantastic musical experience, the orchestra, joined by talented Grammy-award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn, staged a performance of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D major, op. 35, which drew long-lasting applause from the audiences when finished.

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, which won the 2008 Juno award for Classical Album of the Year, is the first Canadian orchestra performing in China since 1978, and this year's Vancouver Symphony Asia Tour also marks the orchestra's first international tour in 17 years.

(Xinhua News Agency October 15, 2008)