The Chinese National Symphony Orchestra will be performing on Friday March 8 at 8 p.m. at the Valley Performing Arts Center.

The concert will include two post-romantic compositions written by Richard Strauss and Erich Wolfgang Korngold and also be performing Xia Guan’s “First Movement of Earth Requim.” The Orchestra is headed by music director and conductor En Shao.

The Orchestra has performed in many countries such as Europe, South America, and Asia. It was founded on July 3,1956 originally as the Central Philharmonic Orchestra of China. The Orchestra’s first concert was in Beijing in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Mozart. In 1996, the orchestra was restructured and changed its name to the China National Symphony Orchestra.

In it’s 56 year history, the orchestra has worked with numerous famous conductors such as E. Ormandy Eugene, Seiji Ozawa, Charles Dutoit, Herbert Von Karajan and Rozhdestvensky.

The orchestra performs western classic music by artists such as Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, and Mahler.

In 2006, the symphony performed “Farewell My Concubine and Scheherazade” by Rimskykorsakov in an eight city tour in major symphony concert halls across the United States.

Ticket prices for the performance range from $35 to $65 depending on seating. For more information visit valleyperformingartscenter.com.