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Since China began ringing in the new year with a concert in Beijing's Great Hall of the People in 1997, the musical extravaganza has been turned into a top-quality artistic event and a top choice for Chinese to greet the start of another year.

The 2003 New Year's Concert on Dec. 31 will be performed jointly by Britain's prestigious Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, under noted conductors Barry Wordsworth and Tan Lihua respectively.

The audience will enjoy a dozen Chinese and world-famous classical musical gems, including Berlioz's Carnival Romain and works by Rachmaninov. The concert's artistic director Wu Zuqiang said opera selections such as from Madame Butterfly will also be on the program.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1946, has a world-class reputation. In 1966, Queen Elizabeth II granted it its royal title.

The orchestra will also do a week-long concert tour of China, playing in the three major cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. In a special Beijing performance on Jan. 3, it will play excerpts from Bizet's Carmen and Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, as well as works by Rachmaninov and Dvorak.

Li Qin, general manager of the Beijing Performing Arts Agency, the event's organizer, said that the upcoming New Year's concert has attracted a rising number of international artists in its six straight years and become an increasingly important event in Chinese festival attendance.