L/A Arts in partnership with Bates College will bring the Canadian-based Orchid Ensemble, a trio that blends ancient musical instruments and traditions from China and beyond, to Olin Arts Center on Thursday, Nov. 5.

Orchid Ensemble's 2004 CD, "Road to Kashgar" was nominated for a Juno award in the Best World Music category. (A Juno has often been described as the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy.)

The trio performs a variety of musical styles, ranging from the traditional and contemporary music of China and world music to creative improvisation.

Established in 1997, The Orchid Ensemble is made up of Lan Tung of Taiwan and Canada on the erhu/Chinese violin, Haiqiong Deng of China and the United States on the zheng/Chinese zither and Jonathan Bernard of Canada on percussion. The trio regularly collaborates with musicians from a wide variety of world cultures and actively commissions new works by Canadian and U.S. composers for its unique instrumentation.

The ensemble performs regularly in concerts across North America and at prominent world, jazz and folk music festivals. Recent appearances include The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Institution's Freer Gallery, Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa, Festival Miami and the Vancouver International Jazz Festival.

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Olin Arts Center's Concert Hall, 75 Russell St. Advance tickets are $15, $10 for students and seniors. They may be purchased through L/A Arts at 782-728 or www.laarts.org.

As part of its visit to the area, The Orchid Ensemble will work with two Lewiston elementary schools as part of L/A Arts' Arts-in-Education program. The group will perform on-site at Longley and Farwell elementary schools on Wednesday, Nov. 4. During the school concerts, students will learn to sing a simple song in Mandarin Chinese and use their bodies to create percussion accompaniment for the musicians as they learn about the connections between traditional Eastern and contemporary Western music.