A random night with Stanford Reid

Standford Reid will bring his special orchestra of his new project Ngẫu Nhiên (Randomness) to present to audience at Heritage Space on September 29.

Saxophonist, songwriter and singer Standford Reid will perform at Heritage Space on September 29.

The artist, together with his musician friends, will bring his special orchestra of his new project Ngẫu Nhiên (Randomness) to audiences. Ngẫu Nhiên is not exactly a band but a spirit that inspires togetherness to pursue creativity.

Different music genres such as electro-pop, indie alternative, EDM, hip-hop and R&B will be in the concert’s repertoire.

Reid has used an eclectic variety of instrumentation to create soothing vibes, warm rhythm and blues and fiery, electrifying neo-jazz.

The Ngẫu Nhiên concert will take place from 8pm to 10pm. Heritage Space is at Dolphin Plaza on 28 Trần Bình Street.

Entrance fee from VNĐ100,000-150,000. Hotline: 0913715168. Email: red.heritagespace@gmail.com. 

A Night of Film Music at the Opera House

A Night of Film Music will be held from 8pm on September 29 and 30 at The Opera House in HCM City at 7 Lam Sơn Square in HCM City’s District 1. — Photo citynetevents.com

A Night of Film Music will be held from 8pm on September 29 and 30 at The Opera House at 7 Lam Sơn Square in HCM City’s District 1.

The HBSO Symphony Orchestra with conductor Meritorious Artist Trần Vương Thạch will be performing.

Excerpts from world famous films such as Titanic, Indiana Jones, Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, Phantom of the Opera, Tarzan and The Red Violin that have been imprinted in the hearts of audiences for many years will be vividly performed by the symphony orchestra and electronic instruments.

The concert also features violinist Nguyễn Hữu Khôi Nam returning from France.

The tickets are from VNĐ80,000 (US$3.5) to VNĐ550,000 ($24) per person. 

Hotels support Operation Smile Vietnam

InterContinental Hanoi Landmark72 is partnering with Operation Smile Vietnam for a fund-raising event on Saturday. JW Marriott Hanoi and Sheraton Hanoi will also host a charity run on Sunday to support the Operation Smile Vietnam.

Some of Hà Nội’s top hotels are teaming up to help provide surgery for poor children.

JW Marriott Hanoi and Sheraton Hanoi will hold a charity run for Operation Smile Vietnam on Sunday. ‘Run to Give’ will be held at Le PARC – Gamuda City from 7am to 11am.

Entering its 5th year, the charity run is calling for 3,000 runners’ national wide and aims to raise US$45,000 for Operation Smile Vietnam. All profits will go to support Operation Smile Vietnam in performing life-changing surgeries to repair cleft lips and palates for children who can’t afford the surgery and ongoing medical therapies.

A ticket for the run costs VNĐ200,000 ($7.5) per adult, including one t-shirt and race kit. Participants can register at https://ticketbox.vn/event/run-to-give-73099/49821.

In addition, InterContinental Hanoi Landmark72 is working with Operation Smile Vietnam ro raise funds while also celebrating the hotel’s first anniversary.

The event will be held on Saturday from 3pm at the hotel’s Hive Lounge located on the 62nd floor, and will feature afternoon tea and a dinner buffet prepared by the hotel’s top chefs and an art exhibition from artists of the Vietnam Art Space. The party features a DJ at the hotel’s Qbar.

All donations to the charity help support approximately 140,000 children with facial deformities in Việt Nam.

Prices start from VNĐ2 million ($75) per adult. For reservations and further information, please dial (+84) 24 3698 8888, ext. 5440. 

Experts discuss protecting and promoting heritage of Hà Nội

The gate of Đường Lâm Village. There is a conflict between the aim of protecting old houses and the need to upgrade insfrastructure for the local people. 

Preservation should accompany development, experts agreed during a conference on protecting and promoting cultural heritage in Hà Nội.

The conference was held on Thursday at the Hà Nội Museum with the participation of many cultural managers and researchers. They delivered an overall view on the current situation of cultural and historical vestiges in Hà Nội, pointed out shortcomings in the management of relics in the city and discussed solutions to preserve and promote heritage sites in the city effectively.

Hà Nội is praised as a city of rich cultural heritage. Indeed, as a 1,000-year-old city, Hà Nội is the cradle of nearly 6,000 cultural and historical relics, counting to 2016. Over 2,000 relics have been recognised as national heritage and provincial heritage treasures, according to Ngô Văn Quý, vice chairman of the Hà Nội People’s Committee. 

The heritage items and sites are diverse, including pre-historic military architecture (An Dương Vương, built before 208BC); key areas from the resistance wars against the French and Americans; imperial architecture and artefacts from the Lý Dynasty (the 10th century) to the Nguyễn Dynasty (1802-1945) and religious spaces, as Hà Nội is a centre of different religions including Buddhism, Mother Goddess worship and Catholicism.

There is huge potential to develop tourism and cultural research in Hà Nội. The heritage of the capital also provides inspiration for research and creativity.

"We acknowledge that cultural heritage is a foundation to develop socio-economy of the city," said Quý. 

Lê Thị Minh Lý, from the Việt Nam Cultural Heritage Association, emphasised the importance of sustainable development, especially in the field of cultural heritage. She said that heritage preservation requires comprehensive social and economic development, protecting the environment, peace and security.

"According to UNESCO conventions, we need to focus on preserving and developing at the same time. That means that besides respecting and protecting cultural heritage, we are also concerned about the material and spiritual life of the people who live on the heritage sites, so we need to get the locals involved in all steps of projects to preserve and develop the sites and consult experts during the process," she said.       

That the capital city boasts a huge number of heritage sites is both a point of pride and a challenge at the same time, according to expert Nguyễn Thế Hùng from the Cultural Heritage Department of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

“We face many difficulties to strike a balance and harmony between protecting heritage and developing the society,” he said.

“There is a conflict between protecting the archaeological sites and maintaining the rights of people living on the sites.”

He mentioned Đường Lâm Old Village in Hà Nội’s Sơn Tây Town as a prime example. The local people demanded the right to build new houses or repair their traditional houses because they can’t live in downgraded architecture that is hundreds of years old.  

He offered some solutions, such as consulting domestic and foreign experts, raising people’s awareness of the value of heritage sites, developing more tourism products to bring profits for the local people, getting young people involved in protecting and developing the heritage sites, and improving the professionalism of people who work in managing and operating the heritage zones. 

Vietnam’s signature dishes introduced in Ukraine

Fried spring rolls (Source: hotdeal.vn)

Fried spring rolls and “Pho” (noodle served with beef) – two signature dishes of Vietnam – have been introduced to students majoring in hospitality at a university in Ukraine.

This activity was initiated by the Vietnamese Embassy in Ukraine and designed as part of the training programme of the Hospitality Business Faculty of the Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics. This was also the first year the Hospitality Business Faculty organised the activity.

Attending the event were representatives from the Vietnamese Embassy, the Vietnamese Association in Kiev, the Management Board of the university, lecturers and students of the faculty and Vietnamese food specialists in the capital city.

The event was one of the activities held by the embassy to respond to the Vietnam Culture Year in Ukraine in 2018.

Participating lecturers and students were provided with materials and recipes to make Vietnamese spring rolls and “Pho”.

Vice Rector of the university Valery Say spoke highly of the Vietnamese embassy’s initiative, hoping for more joint activities between the university and the embassy in order to help intensify cooperation in training and culture between the two countries.

Hanoi: Huong Son complex named special national relic site

Huong Pagoda has been recognised as a special national relic site.

Hanoi authorities received a certificate honouring the Huong Son landscape complex, also known as Huong Pagoda, in My Duc district on September 19.

The Huong Son complex consists of Buddhist pagodas and caves and temples worshipping local agricultural gods.

The complex was built under the reign of King Le Thanh Tong (1442 – 1497). It was destroyed by French colonialists but has been rebuilt with the support of the State, local residents and visitors.

Aside from its religious significance, the complex also holds special values in terms of ecosystem, landscape, architecture and history.

The traditional Huong Pagoda Festival from the first through the third lunar month each year is one of the biggest of its kind in Vietnam, helping the complex attract millions of visitors every year.

The Huong Son complex was listed among special national relic sites in December 2017.

At the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam presented the certificate to authorities of My Duc district and the pagoda’s representatives.

Addressing the event, Politburo member and Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Hoang Trung Hai said it was an honour for the administration and people of My Duc district and the capital city to receive the recognition. 

They would make utmost efforts to uphold the relic site’s values to turn it into a destination for not only spiritual tourism but also for educating in history, culture and environment, he added.

The ceremony also aimed to mark the 130th founding anniversary of My Duc district and 60 years since then President Ho Chi Minh visited Huong Pagoda.

Book on cải lương guru released

The cover of the 225-page book, Nữ Nghệ Sĩ Tiên Phong Năm Sa Đéc và Nghệ Thuật Sân Khấu Nam Bộ (Pioneering Actress Năm Sa Đéc and the Traditional Theatre of the South), published by HCM City General Publishing House to celebrate 100 years of cải lương (reformed opera) this year. — Photo courtesy of the publisher

A book on the 58-year-long career of late theatre actress Năm Sa Đéc, a guru of cải lương (reformed opera) and hát bội or tuồng (classical drama), has been released in HCM City.

Nữ Nghệ Sĩ Tiên Phong Năm Sa Đéc và Nghệ Thuật Sân Khấu Nam Bộ (Pioneering Actress Năm Sa Đéc and the Traditional Theatre of the South), written by Thiện Mộc Lan and published by HCM City General Publishing House, features the development of cải lương and hát bội, genres of traditional theatre in the southern and central regions between the 1930s and 1980s.

It highlights the love and devotion for traditional theatre of Năm Sa Đéc, one of the region’s pioneering performers.

It includes 225 pages and dozens of professional black-and-white and colour photographs of Năm Sa Đéc and her colleagues who played an important role in developing the southern traditional theatre.   

The book will help readers, particularly youth, learn more about cải lương and hát bội, and their status in Vietnamese theatre.

Born in 1907 in a traditional family in Sa Đéc (now Đồng Tháp Province), Năm Sa Đéc (real name Nguyễn Kim Chung) began her career when she was a child.

She learned the art on her own and became a bright star after working for leading troupes such as Trần Đắt, Bàu Bồn, Huỳnh Kỳ and Song Phụng.

She performed leading roles in several famous plays, working with late People’s Artist Diệp Lang, People’s Artist Đinh Bằng Phi and composer Nguyễn Vĩnh Bảo, all gurus of cải lương and hát bội.        

She offered a new performance style in hát bội that helped popularise the art during the 1930s to 1960s.

Her voice and dance skills left a strong impression on audiences.

In 1947, she lived in Sài Gòn and married to Vương Hồng Sến, the greatest, most beloved scholar of southern Vietnamese culture. She later became involved in theatrical drama and films.

In the early 1980s, she played in winning-prize films directed by talented artists Hồng Sến, Huy Thành, Hồ Quang Minh and Việt Linh. 

She died in 1988.

The book, Nữ Nghệ Sĩ Tiên Phong Năm Sa Đéc và Nghệ Thuật Sân Khấu Nam Bộ, describes how the traditional theatre of the south is still alive after 100 years through the career of Năm Sa Đéc.