By Town Crier Staff Report

String of Pearls, a jazz and swing octet led by Don Conway and featuring Connie Anne Conway of Palo Alto, will perform its first U.S. concert of its China tour program Sunday in Los Altos.

Presented by BayLight Church, the Silk Road concert will be held 7-9 p.m., at the Masonic Lodge, 145 Main St.

String of Pearls became interested in visiting China through several performances it held for Chinese-American audiences in the Bay Area. Through the Cultural Consul of the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, Jing Qiu Song of the Beijing Jen Li Cultural Development Center arranged for the group’s 1999 tour. He subsequently joined with others to arrange the more extensive tours in 2001 and 2002.

The group’s longest tour took them to Beijing and inland from Lanzhou far up the Silk Road.

The eight musicians performing are Walter Cross (tenor saxophone), Stan Soroken (trumpet), Mike Humphrey (trombone), Darryl Berk (guitar), Mickey McPhillips (string bass), George Ballantyne (drums), Don Conway (alto saxophone) and Connie Anne Conway (piano). Both Conways are also vocalists.

The Silk Road concert is a benefit for BayLight Church, which showcases local musicians in its services and special concerts. Suggested donations are $12 adults, $8 seniors and $5 children.

For more information, call 917-0505 or logon to www.baylight.org.