The orchestra of the National Ballet of China will perform at the National Center for the Performing Arts tonight to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847). The orchestra invites Gernot Schmalfuss from Germany to conduct.

It will play Mendelssohn's Overture of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Violin Concerto in E minor and Third Symphony in A minor. The young violinist Liu Xiao from Central Conservatory of Music will play the violin concerto.

The concert is also the last of its series to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of National Ballet of China. Founded in 1959, the company has become one of the world's top ballet companies, and its dancers have snapped up numerous awards in international competitions. "Its orchestra also demonstrates high quality, not only in performing the ballet music but also a variety of Western classic repertoire, including the Mendelssohn pieces," conductor Schmalfuss says.

(China Daily September 10, 2009)