LIVERPOOL, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO) on Wednesday announced a tour to China in July.

Led by its legendary conductor, Vasily Petrenko, and taking place between July 11 and 22, it will be the orchestra's third tour to China.

In 2010 the orchestra supported the City of Liverpool's presence at the World EXPO in Shanghai, and it returned again in 2014.

Performing in major concert halls in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Qingdao, the tour concert programs include music by Walton, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4, Mussorgsky's Night on a Bare Mountain, Saint Saens' Danse Macabre.

There will also be a selection of hit songs written by Liverpool's world famous song writing duo, John Lennon and Paul McCartney of the Beatles.

The orchestra will play famous Beatles' hits such as Hey Jude, When I'm 64, Yesterday, Here Comes and Sun and John Lennon's famous anthem, Imagine.

The great Russian virtuoso pianist Boris Giltburg joins the tour in China to perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 and Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2.

Petrenko, now in his 12th season with orchestra and the Gramophone Awards Artist of the Year 2017, said: "It is a great honor to be invited back to China. We are looking forward to exploring different musical cultures and to performing in stunning venues with some fantastic soloists who will bring a very high level of musicianship and performance."