Bavarian Youth Jazz Band from Germany will stage ‘First Herd’ concert with music director Harald Ruschenbaum at Hanoi Opera House at 8 p.m. on May 9 and 10 and at HCMC Opera House on May 11.

The event is designed to mark the Europe Day and co-organized by the delegation of the European Union and the Goethe Institute in collaboration with the Vietnam National Academy of Music.

The members of the band have mostly been discovered at the federal music competition Jugend jazzt in Germany. The young ensemble regularly performs on national and international stages in the U.S, Russia and the Czech Republic with an aim of building bridges between music and musicians from different cultural backgrounds.

The band will bring Vietnamese audiences a journey to classic jazz or traditional swing by renowned composers like Count Basie or Duke Ellington to modern genres such as bebop, Latin, funk and fusion compositions. Moreover, the young musicians will present some of their own arrangements and compositions.

Harald Ruschenbaum, the artistic director of the ensemble, is an internationally renowned percussionist and bandleader. He has been acknowledged with several awards for his dedicated commitment to the support of young jazz musicians. He is a lecturer at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich.

Before the concerts, they will perform jazz in the courtyard of the Hanoi Goethe Institute at 7 p.m. on May 8. The night named ‘Jam Session’ invites any jazz lovers to bring their own instruments to the yard to exchange and enjoy the gig.

Admission is free and tickets are available at Goethe Institute at 56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street in Hanoi and at 18 Street No.1, Cu Xa Do Thanh (Do Thanh housing estate) in HCMC’s District 3.

SGT/VNN