PORTLAND – PSO Pops! will present music by Henry Mancini and Bill Conti under the direction of Conti, an Oscar and Emmy Award-winning composer and conductor, Saturday and Sunday, March 15-16, at Merrill Auditorium.

One of the most popular composers of our time, Mancini’s music, with slightly more than 100 nominations, was ubiquitous in film and television during the mid-1960s. Some of his many hits, including the theme from the TV series “Peter Gunn” and the memorable instrumental music for the many “Pink Panther” films, have entered the pop music lexicon. Songs such as “Moon River” from the film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” have become standard classics.

Conti has composed memorable scores such as the one for James Bond film “For Your Eyes Only” and the powerful anthem “Gonna Fly Now” from “Rocky.”

He has acted as orchestral director for the Academy Awards show for 14 years and has been a guest conductor for many prestigious orchestras, including the Boston Pops, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra at the Blossom Music Festival, the National Symphony at Wolf Trap, the Houston Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony.

The concert will begin at 8 p.m. Saturday and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets, $15 to $55, can be ordered online at www.porttix.com, by calling 842-0800, or at the PortTix box office, 20 Myrtle St., Monday through Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. Discounts are available for students, seniors and groups of 10 or more.

For more information about the PSO, call 773-6128 or visit www.portlandsymphony.com.