Concert to commemorate President Ho Chi Minh

Khúc Khải Hoàn (Song of Victory) will open with a composition for wind instruments composed recently by veteran musician Trong Dai, a graduate of Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Music.

He has written two orchestral compositions, but is more popular for the soundtracks of the movies Hà Nội Đêm Trở Gió (Hà Nội on a Windy Night) and Chị Tôi (My Older Sister).

The performance will feature a three-movement Concerto for Violin written by People’s Teacher Hoang Cuong, former headmaster of the city’s Conservatory of Music.

Cuong wrote the song between 2007 and 2010 featuring traditional music and children’s music.

The concerto will be performed by his son, violinist Hoang Tuan Cuong, a soloist in the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg (Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra) in Germany.

The concert will continue with two popular revolutionary songs Bác Hồ Một Tình Yêu Bao La (Uncle Ho - A Great Love) by Thuan Yen and Tiếng Hát Từ Thành Phố Mang Tên Bác (Songs from the City Named after President Ho Chi Minh), which are poems by Dang Trung set to music by Cao Viet Bach.

The songs will be performed by soprano Duyen Huyen.

The second part of the programme will highlight contemporary dance piece Chạm Tay Vào Quá Khứ (Touching the Past) by HBSO choreographers Nguyen Phuc Hai and Nguyen Phuc Hung.
The dance is about the generations born after the war learning about it only through films and stories.

The work also reveals the views and feelings of musicians, choreographers and dancers about the war.

Hai and Hung presented their first dance piece Những Mảnh Ghép Của Giiấc Mơ (Dream Puzzles) in 2012 to much acclaim from local and foreign audiences.

Both have choreographed and performed many dance pieces, including Anh Em (Brother), Zig Zag, and Đi Qua Tình Yêu (Gone through Love).

Hung, a graduate in choreography from Fontys Dance Academy in the Netherlands, is general director in charge of HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO)’s programmes.

The concert will be conducted by Tran Nhat Minh, who got a Master of Music in Conducting degree from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and performed by the HBSO symphony orchestra.

Khuc Khai Hoan is organised by the city Department of Culture and Sports and the HBSO.

Meritorious Artist Tran Vuong Thach, the HBSO director, said: “The concert has become the city’s annual programme to celebrate the country’s major anniversaries.

“The programme also aims to introduce and promote contemporary works and traditional music by Vietnamese composers and choreographers.”

The concert will begin at 8pm. The HCM City Opera House is at 7 Lam Son Square in District 1.

VNS