Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, ranking the best player of Hollywood blockbusters, is scheduled to perform on October 21 and 22, in the Great Hall of People in the Chinese national capital.

Steven Monder, president of the orchestra, said at a press conference here Sunday that the two performances, with the theme of "romance" and passion respectively, will have two sets of repertoire. Erich Kunzel, entitled "Prince of film music" by Western critics, will direct the performances.

The troupe will play a dozen suits of best-seller films including Harry Porter, King of the Ring, Titanic, Star War, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, etc. The troupe will also play the theme song of the latest film "Wu Ji" by director Chen Kaige especially for the Chinese audience.

The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, founded in 1977, has been nominated for the Grammy Awards for four times, and eventually won the award in 1998. So far, the orchestra has published 75 records, among which 52 have been listed on the Billboard. The sale of more than 8 million records of the orchestra has topped any other orchestra in the world.

According to Monder, Beijing is the first leg of the troupe's Asia Tour, which will also take the orchestra to Shanghai and Singapore.

(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2005)