Toyota Motor Vietnam (TMV) held a press conference on October 18 in Hanoi to introduce its annual music series, Toyota Classics 2017, with performances from the Vietnam Performing Arts Centre under the Department of Performing Arts, with support from the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

This is the 20th Toyota Classics organized in Vietnam and marks the 28th anniversary of “Music that moves lives” in the Asia-Pacific region. The only concert in Vietnam will be held at 8pm on November 4 at the Hanoi Opera House.

In this 20th year, Toyota Classics 2017 sees the participation of the UK’s Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra (RPCO), one of most famous in the world and under the baton of conductor Anthony Weeden and with violinist David Juritz. 

Toyota Classics 2017 will also see the return of young pianist Luu Hong Quang, who has received many awards for her playing in Australia, performing with famous orchestras such as the Queensland and the Metropolitan (Sydney), as well as the Wuhan (China).

With talent and creativity, Quang and the RPCO are sure to provide emotional musical melodies to the audience. 

With its annual organization of Toyota Classics, TMV expresses its effort to contribute to enhancing the quality of spiritual lives in the community as well as to the development of culture in Vietnam.

With a main theme of “Truly Classics”, this year’s program bristles with drama and romance, with pieces written for opera houses, some as incidental music and others for dramatic occasions, such as Handel’s Water Music, written at the request of King George I for a concert to be performed on a barge as it floated down the River Thames, and Elgar’s Salut d’Amour, as an engagement present to his fiancé.

Ms. Do Thu Hoang, Vice President of Toyota Motor Vietnam, told the press conference that over the last 19 years, Toyota Classics have been organized annually to bring world-class classical music closer to music lovers in Vietnam, in particular contributing to the development of Vietnam’s music industry. 

“We are so happy that the program has become one of the most anticipated musical events each year, with 19 concerts now held that attracted an audience of nearly 10,000, in the presence of famous symphony orchestras from the UK, Hungary, and Finland,” she said. 

“The program also creates opportunities for talented Vietnamese artists to perform with international orchestras, such as singer Tung Duong, violinist Hoang Tuan Cuong, and Nguyen Huu Nguyen.”

Ms. Nguyen Phuong Hoa, Deputy Director of the International Cooperation Department at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, emphasized that the department highly appreciates the efforts of Toyota to contributing to bringing classical music to Vietnamese audiences as well as the meaningful contribution the program makes in using all ticket proceeds for charitable activities.

In 2017, Toyota Classics 2017 is touring six ASEAN countries: Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, and Vietnam from October 10 to November 4.

Since the inception of Toyota Classics in 1990, it has held sold-out concerts across Asia, helping to promote classical music in the region in support of local communities. 

This is in line with Toyota’s firm commitment to helping the countries its operates in to achieve their sustainable development goals. Toyota Classics has so far raised approximately $9.03 million to benefit local charities across Asia.

In Vietnam, since 2009, all ticket proceeds have been used for the “Toyota Scholarship for Young Vietnamese Music Talent” program, with 730 scholarships offered to date.

With its continuous efforts to become “a good citizen in the local community”, TMV has organized a host of meaningful community activities focusing on Traffic Safety, Education - Training & HRD, Environmental Protection, and Culture - Society. 

Culture - Society is one of the areas that its pay attention to in the hope of enriching the lives of Vietnamese people. The Toyota concerts are one of its activities to contribute to popularizing classical music among Vietnamese music lovers.

VN Economic Times