VietNamNet Bridge – Le Ngoc Anh Kiet, the only Vietnamese violinist of the Berliner Symphoniker Orchestra, is committed to bringing traditional Vietnamese folk songs to German audiences in a unique manner.

Kiet was born into an artistic family: his father is a famous trumpeter in HCM City and my mother is a playwright. He studied at the Conservatory of Ho Chi Minh City and became an accomplished student of Professor Bui Cong Thanh.

“An important turning point of my life was when I won a scholarship to study at the Leningrad Conservatory in Russia and was fortunate to have the famous professor Komarova as my instructor”, Kiet said.

He moved to settle in Germany with his family as soon as he graduated from the school. Two years later he returned to Russia and continued his study coached by Professor Thanh again.

Kiet began working for Berliner Symphoniker in 1995 and became an official member of the orchestra in 2007.

“At that time, I was the first and only Vietnamese musician in the orchestra. I found German people had very little, if any, knowledge of traditional Vietnamese music so I decided to introduce it to them.

“I came up with the idea of setting up a string quartet called BESA. I invited 3 well-known musicians in the orchestra to join the group, and violinist Hans Maile, violist Erhard Starke and cellist Dietmar Starke Spallek accepted my invitation.”

 Kiet said his group usually practices and performs famous Vietnamese pieces written by renowned composers Nguyen Van Thuong, Phan Huynh Dieu and Trinh Cong Son, as well as popular Vietnamese folk songs.

Sharing a great passion for traditional music and national pride, BESA has so far given a number of performances at Berlin-based concert halls and many other celebrations organised by the Vietnamese Embassy in Germany and the Vietnamese community.

Kiet arranged the trans-Vietnam tours for BESA in 2012 and 2013, helping group members get a better understanding of the country’s land, people and traditional music.

He also helped Vietnamese artists have the chance to perform in Germany. Recently, talented Vietnamese violinist Bui Cong Duy performed with Berliner Symphoniker on February 2 thanks to Kiet’s support.

Source: VOV