STAR VIOLINIST: Vietnamese-French violinist Stephane Trần Ngọc will perform at the “A Night of Italian Spirit” concert at the HCM City Opera House on July 9. Photo courtesy of HBSO

HCM CITY — Vietnamese-French violinist Stephane Trần Ngọc will be the featured soloist in the “A Night of Italian Spirit” concert at the HCM City Opera House on July 9.

Ngọc, a concert master for the Danish Chamber Players, will perform Violin Concerto No 1 written by Italian composer Niccolo Paganini.

The concerto, consisting of three movements, premiered in Naples in 1819 featuring Paganini as a violin soloist.

Paganini’s first score was for various instruments to enhance violin sounds, but he added instruments from a military band to the score years later.

Ngọc’s performance will be supported by the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and HBSO Orchestra.

The concert will also introduce Souvenir de Florence, a string sextet scored for two violins, two violas, and two cellos composed in 1980 by Tchaikovsky.

The four-movement composition premiered in 1892 by the St. Petersburg Chamber Music Society.

The composition will be played by the HBSO Orchestra.

VIETNAM'S FINEST: The concert will be conducted by Meritorious Artist Trần Vương Thạch. Photo courtesy of HBSO

The concert will be conducted by Meritorious Artist Trần Vương Thạch, former director of the HBSO.

Thạch studied at leading music schools and conservatories in Belgium and the Netherlands.

He has performed in many countries, such as Germany, Italy, Scotland, Spain, France, Tokyo and South Korea.

In 2020, he was granted the title Knight of Arts and Letters (Chevaliers des Lettres et des Arts) from the French government for his efforts to promote arts exchange between Việt Nam and France.

The Paris-born violist Ngọc graduated in violin and chamber music at the Paris National Superior Conservatory of Music when he was 15 years old.

He later received a master’s degree at Brooklyn College’s Conservatory of Music and a doctorate in musical arts from The Juilliard School in the US.

He has won top prizes at several international competitions, such as the Lipizer Competition and the Long-Thibaud 1990 International Competition.

Ngọc has performed as a soloist in over 30 countries with orchestras, including the Radio-France Philharmonic, the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic, and the Shinsei Symphony Orchestra.

He worked as a violin teacher at the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Lyon and the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in the US before being appointed as head of strings at the London College of Music.

He is currently a professor at the Pôle Sup' 93 art school in Paris.

The concert will begin at 8pm at the Opera House at 7 Lam Sơn Square in District 1. Tickets are available at the venue’s box office. — VNS