German band MAM will perform at Viet Nam Youth Theatre tonight (February 21) to kick off the New Music series in Hanoi, which includes concerts, workshops and artist residencies.

Musician Lương Huệ Trinh will perform on March 16 at the French Cultural Centre, 26 Tràng Tiền Street. — Photo panyrosasdiscos.net

The concert tonight will include a performance of Pierrot Lunaire by Austrian Arnold Schonberg (1874-1951), which was an important piece in the development of new music in the 20th century, according to soprano Julia Kamenov.

"The piece includes 21 poems which will be performed by instruments and video screen," said Kamenov at a press conference at the Goethe Institute in Hà Nội yesterday. "The piece is a master work of the composer and he wrote the piece by order."

Pierrot Lunaire was composed in 1912 based on a series of poems by French poet Albert Giauld. The composer wrote the piece for eight instruments and one vocalist.

MAM was founded by International Ensemble Modern Academy scholarship holders in 2010. The musicians see themselves as an international collective that extends the idea of an ensemble through new sounds and sound concepts.

The concert will open the New Music programme, held by Goethe Institute in Hà Nội to help Vietnamese musicians introduce their work to the public. It will draw on the new generation of composers like Kim Ngọc, Vũ Nhật Tân, Lương Huệ Trinh and others.

Other concerts and workshop under the programme will take place in Hà Nội until April 27. — VNS