US superstar Katy Perry performs for the first time in China at the 2014 Infiniti China Brand Festival in Beijing. Provided to China Daily

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Xi Qiang, director of the orchestra, gave the 29-year-old star a xun (Chinese vessel flute). In return, Perry gifted her Baby Taylor acoustic guitar, which has her jewel-encrusted signature.

She was surprised when she was told that all the instruments onstage are more than 1,000 years old and said that she looked forward to cooperating with the China National Orchestra.

"If you come to perform in Los Angeles, we can do Roar together," she said to Xi.

According to Xi, Universal Records, which the artist is signed to, initiated the adaptation of the chart-topping song, Roar, two weeks ago. Zhao Dongsheng, an established composer from the China National Orchestra, re-arranged the song.

"Zhao's adaptation makes Roar sounds good with traditional Chinese instruments. It makes the best use of those ancient instruments while maintaining the beat of the original song. It is a good example of mixing the musical forms of East and West," Xi says.

It's not the first time the orchestra has done such a crossover cooperation with musicians from different fields. They have also adapted Taiwan pop singer-songwriter Jay Chou's hit song Chrysanthemums Terrace into traditional Chinese music and played with renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma during their tour around the United States.

"Those crossover performances enable traditional Chinese music to connect with today's audiences. We will play our adaptation of Roar during our future tour abroad, which will take us close to international audiences."

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