VietNamNet Bridge – The orchestra with the participation of artists from ten ASEAN member states, had its first show in HCM City on October 26.

Japanese conductor Yoshikazu Fukumura.

 

Artists from Vietnam’s three biggest music institutes – the HCM City Music Conservatory, Hue Music Conservatory and the Vietnam National Music Institute –and their colleagues from other nine ASEAN countries will perform together for the first time.

After the third performance in HCM City on October 26, the orchestra will have two more shows in Hanoi on October 28-29 to celebrate Hanoi’s 1000^th anniversary and Vietnam’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2010.

Over 80 artists will perform pieces by Dvorak and Johannes Brahms under the baton of famous Japanese conductor Yoshikazu Fukumura.

Two of the shows’ four key pieces are the solo performances by violinist Anna Sowanna, 18, a Thai-Japanese and Vietnamese pianist Nguyen Manh Tuan, 24.

This event is considered a historical landmark in ASEAN’s music cooperation. Of over 80 musical instrumentalists, Vietnam contributed nearly 60. The remaining players \come from Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, among others.

Van Minh Huong, director of the HCM City Conservatory of Music, said the preparations took over a  year. “It was extremely difficult to select musicians with equal qualifications for a multinational orchestra. Conductor Yoshikazu Fukumura followed his own criteria.

After its three shows in Vietnam, the ASEAN symphony orchestra will make a tour around ASEAN countries. This will be the basis for the establishment of a regional symphony orchestra in the future.

Van Sam