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With Dac on the sax, Oscar Nilsson on guitar, Johnny Aman (bass) and drummer Olle Dernevik promise a rare treat at the Hanoi Opera House.
Tunes include Another Northwind, Mother’s Lullaby, Market-Day, To Request The Queen, Trong Com (Song of Rice Drum), Southern Moments, Beo Dat May Troi (Floating Weed Drifting Cloud), Dieu mua Thang Long (Thang Long’s dance) and Drums and Horn.
As son of famous saxophonist Quyen Van Minh, Dac has just graduated with the highest score and scholarship at Berklee College of Music in Boston, in the U.S. He has also finished an MA at Malmo Academy of Music in Sweden.
Trio PO Nilsson have performed in jazz festivals in Sweden, Poland and Denmark and they have recorded an album with U.S. sax star Tony Malaby.
Tickets are available at the Opera House, 1 Trang Tien Street in Hanoi, priced at VND300,000, VND700,000 and VND1 million, or at www.ticketvn.com.
Vietnamese ethnic festival to be held in Hanoi
Vietnam’s Ethnic Minority Cultural Festival will open at the Culture-Tourism Village of Vietnamese Ethnic Groups in Hanoi on April 19.
Participants will review related activities in the past three years and attend a conference on tourism promotion, a mountain market fair and other traditional games, sports and entertainment activities.
The highlight of the event will be a Gala night to honour the culture of Vietnam’s ethnic minorities, including the M’nong, Thai, Muong, H’mong Ede, Hoa, Tay, Pa Then, Ro Mam, Chut, Lo Lo and Giay, to promote their mutual understanding and solidarity.
Fine Arts Museum exhibits 'Lost Moments'
An exhibition of sculpture by artist Pham Thai Binh entitled 'Lost Moments' opened at the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts on March 11.
On show are 30 works produced over the last ten years that focus on the daily lives of ethnic minority people in Vietnam.
Pham Thai Binh uses bronze and lacquer to create a cube beauty and make the sculpture come to life. The pieces “Rob wife at a moon night”, “Pick wife up by a tractor ”, “Turning on the Radio to Wait for a Friend” and “Love by Ear” are particularly funny and noteworthy.
He says he is inspired by the moments of lightheartedness and happiness that seem to be all too rare in the lives of these people. “The characters in my sculpture are based on ethnic minorities in northern mountainous regions of Vietnam, but not any specific ethnic minority. I try to express my admiration for the way they face so many difficulties including isolation and substandard living conditions. My work represents only my personal feelings. When others see it, they will have their own point of view and opinions, and those interactions motivate me to continue improving my work”.
At the exhibition opening, architect Hoang Dao Kinh also shared his thoughts: “Pham Thai Binh and his works are unforgettable. He uses bronze, a difficult and heavy medium, to capture the lighter moments of everyday life. His works are not only about those moments, but also entire picture of life.”
The exhibition will last till March 18 at the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts, 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Hanoi.
Nguyen dynasty weapons unearthed
Local museum staff in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue have found several ancient weapons believed to have been used during the reign of the Nguyen dynasty.
The antiques were found along the Ngu Ha River in Hue City's Thuan Loc Ward.
According to the provincial department of Cultural, Sport and Tourism, the antiques include a cannon and 29 balls.
The cannon, made of alloy, is 63cm long and has a diameter of 15cm. Five balls have a diameter of 9.5cm, 13 of 13 to 15cm, and 11 of 21cm.
All the antiques were bought from a craft warehouse on 49 Ngu Binh Street in Hue are now kept at the Thua Thien-Hue Historical and Revolutionary Museum.
Museum representatives said the antiques are very valuable and adds to the museum's collection of old weapons.
Photo exhibit opens in Hue
More than 20 local photographers are showcasing their latest works in Hue to celebrate the 59th traditional day of Vietnamese Photographers, March 15.
The exhibition, called Anh Nghe Thuat, or Art Photo, features 60 colour and black-and-white photos of landscapes, daily life, and people in Hue and elsewhere taken by photographers like Pham Van Ty, Ho Ngoc Son, Truong Vung, and Nguyen Xuan Huu Tam.
The exhibition, at 26 Le Loi, will remain open until March 28.-
L’Espace shows Oscar-nominated Incendies
The Canadian Embassy in Hanoi will introduce Oscar-nominated ‘Incendies’ by director Denis Villeneuve at L’Espace at 8 p.m. on March 27.
The screening is part of the Alliance Francaise French Film Festival to celebrate International Day of Francophonie on March 20.
Local audiences can watch the 131-minute film with Vietnamese subtitles. ‘Incendies’ was a nominee at last year’s Oscars in the category of Best Foreign Language Film. It won Best Canadian Film at the 2010 international film festivals in Toronto and Vancouver.
Viewers can register at Audrey.Desmarteaux_Houle@international.gc.ca to receive complimentary tickets from the Canadian Embassy at 31 Hung Vuong Street in Hanoi, or contact L’Espace at 24 Trang Tien Street.
Film school backs student’s controversial video
The faculty of the HCM University of Cinema and Theatre announced on Monday that it found nothing wrong with the content of the controversial short film “Two Bedrooms”, a film assignment by one of its students in the director department.
Since last week, the short movie by freshman Pham Trung has captured both the media and netizen’s attention for its sensitive scenes of a separated couple.
The 9-minute long film features the physical needs of a young couple, through which the psychological constraint and loneliness of young people in modern society is reflected upon. The video had about 100,000 views on Youtube as of March 9.
However some of its steamiest parts, including long scenes of masturbation by both the actor and actress, were taken out of context and labeled “pornography” by many tabloids, newswires, and even mainstream newspaper.
It thus drew a barrage of harsh criticism and condemnation from readers and netizens who, in most cases, had only watched the mentioned scenes instead of the whole film.
In fact, Trung uploaded his end-of-term assignment on Youtube 8 months ago, but after recently receiving a sudden surge of rude and impolite comments after the clip started to spread fast, he had to delete the video.
After a school meeting held on Monday morning the faculty of the Ho Chi Minh University of Theatre and Cinema, where Trung studied, concluded that there was nothing wrong with the film’s subject and content. “However, this is a sensitive topic, thus it is really challenging for inexperienced filmmakers to handle it,” a school spokesperson said.
In addition, it will send an official warning to Trung, as he had broken the school’s rule of not allowing students to leak their assignments and schoolwork on social media sites without its consent. “It is required that students have to be permitted by the school’s management to release their works to the media to avoid any cases of copyright infringement.”
Trung said in an interview with newswire iOne that although his film did not receive high scores from his teachers, its script was authorized by his academic advisor and a judging committee.
“I know not everybody can fully understand its meaning. I made this film not only for the assignment but also to express my own language of cinematic images and hope to find those who feel or think the same way.
“I think it is unreasonable that people call my work pornography, since there is much more that is worth thinking about in the film,” Trung said, adding that he only regretted posting the video on Youtube because it had caused so many unnecessary problems.
Veteran film director Nguyen Tuong Phuong said Trung presented a creative and daring message in “Two Bedrooms,” yet the work was not perfect. “Young filmmakers like Trung should take it slow and be ready and open to any type of feedback, positive or not, to prepare for their future career.”
Concert a day away, tickets a mystery
Though the “S.Krean – Vietnam” music festival, which will gather many K-pop stars and local top singers, is just one day away as scheduled, Vietnamese fans are still in the dark regarding how to attend the event since the show’s organizers have so far made no announcement about releasing tickets.
The event, which is scheduled to take place on March 15 at the National Conference Center and will be broadcast on KBS2 channel on April 6, is being held by the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) in collaboration with Vietnam Television as part of the activities celebrating the 20th anniversary of the opening of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Vietnam.
It features a number of performers from Korea like Super Junior, CN Blue, Beast, Sistar, Secret, Davichi, and MBLAQ, as well as the young star IU and local artists including Ho Quynh Huong and Minh Quan.
Since the event is invitation only, the tickets to the show will only be released by the organizers, the Embassy of South Korea in Vietnam and Vietnam Television.
However, according to the Vietnamese branch of KBS World Radio, the Embassy of South Korea in Vietnam has not released any tickets so far.
The same silence from VTV, together with the information that tickets have been sold online on certain websites, has confused fans about how to get to the event.
“I heard that some people sold a couple of tickets for VND4.6milion,” a netizen nicknamed Tran Ngoc Anh Elf commented on KBS WORLD Radio Vietnamese’s Facebook page.
Some photos of the show’s tickets are even posted on the Internet, worrying some fans that they won’t be able to get tickets.
“I saw a photo of a ticket for the show on my Facebook friend’s page,” a Facebooker named Wonder Nhim said, while Song Hye Jin commented that she made a phone call to the Embassy but the answer was still “the tickets have not been released.”
Even though the concert is coming up, Vietnamese fans still face a mystery when it comes to how to get tickets to see their idols.
Song Hong brings spring to capital
Song Hong quintet will grace Hanoi with a spring concert featuring pieces by renowned composers at 8 p.m. on March 17 at the Hanoi Opera House.
The concert will feature String Quintet in C major op.163 by Franz Schubert and Piano Quintet in A major no.2 op.81 by Antonin Dvorak.
Song Hong consists of pianist Pham Quynh Trang, violinists To Trinh and Truong Son, cellist Dao Tuyet Trinh, viola player Ho Viet Khoa and guest cellist Tran Thi Mo. After the concert, the quintet will perform across the country from April to December.
Tickets are available at the Hanoi Opera House at 1 Trang Tien Street priced from VND200,000. For further information, contact Mr. Pham Truong Son on 0903 230 685 or email him at sonviolin@yahoo.com.
HCM City book fair in Le Van Tam Park
The biennial HCMC book fair will take place at Le Van Tam Park in District 1 from March 19-25.
The fair, themed ‘Books: Knowledge, Integration and Development’, features over 200 corporate participants, with several publishers like Cambridge, Pearson, Oxford and Macmillan.
Culture Publishing House will launching contest ‘The fourth family bookcase’ which is expected to make the seventh city book fair much more interesting.
The event is jointly organized by the municipal government, Saigon Culture Company, Fahasa and Tong Hop, Van Hoa-Van Nghe and Tre publishing houses. In 2010, it attracted 700,000 visitors and collected total revenue of VND20 billion.
US reality singing contest to hit Viet Nam
Vietnamese candidates aged above 18 are invited to compete in a local version of NBC's popular reality singing contest The Voice to be aired on Viet Nam Television (VTV) in May.
Giong Hat Viet (Vietnamese Voice), produced by VTV and the Cat Tien Sa Media and Television Company, aims to uncover real Vietnamese singing talent.
Contestants will perform songs in genres such as pop, rock, hip-hop and country, the short-listed competing in a blind audition (in June), a battle phase (in July) and live performance shows (in September).
The jury (made up of both mentors and trainers) will include famous singers such as Dam Vinh Hung, Ho Ngoc Ha, Thu Minh and Tran Lap.
The Voice premiered on the NBC television network on April 26, 2011, based on a similar Dutch version. The programme has been screened across 47 countries world wide, with Viet Nam the second in Asia after South Korea.
Lingerie model released second music video
Model and emcee Vu Nguyen Ha Anh from Hanoi has released her second music video featuring a love song she wrote with Vietnamese American songwriter Antoneus Maximus.
Unlike her first work “Take my picture” which came out last November, “From the very start” is a slow and nostalgic pop and RnB song recalling the model-turned-singer’s memory with a lost love.
Set in vacation city Da Lat, the music video has been released free on the Internet as a gift for Ha Anh’s fans and other music lovers.
“My music has a new style that not anyone can easily relate to or like. Therefore, when I have a new product, I want it to be a gift to my fans. Music to me is an experience, a passion and love. I don’t want to use music as a way to earn money,” she said.
The model said she would have two signing sessions for fans in Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi in the latter half of March and a mini-show in Hanoi on April 6.
Born in 1982 in Hanoi, Ha Anh got a business degree from Reading University (UK) and started her modeling career in the country after graduation in 2006.
Based in London, she won several modeling contests in the UK and worked as an international and professional lingerie model until coming back to Vietnam in 2009.
Besides modeling, she has also taken on a number of social and public roles, including being a Goodwill Ambassador for Unicef Vietnam, hosting Vietnam’s Next Top Model season 1 and many international events.
Metaphors behind comics
A comic exhibition displaying nearly 130 pieces by 29 artists opened on Monday at the HCMC Association of Fine Arts.
Each artist will present around 10 artworks which have profound meaning as well as high-value. Most have satirical, humorous and ironic ideas.
Paintings have images and words which are indicated with metaphors, making people think and imagine not only daily life but hot social issues.
Apart from city-based artists such as Nhim, Ngeo, Nop, Dad, Cub, Kheu, Cua Con or Lua, the show also attracts others from Hanoi, Haiphong, Nha Trang and Can Tho.
The show runs to March 21 at the association, 218A Pasteur Street in HCMC’s District 3.
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