MUSICAL PRODIGY: Việt Nam’s leading violinist Bùi Công Duy will give performances at two concerts at the HCM City Opera House on August 25 and 26. Photo courtesy of HBSO

HCM CITY – Việt Nam’s leading violinist Bùi Công Duy and international soloists will dazzle HCM City’s audiences with two concerts at the Opera House on August 25 and 26.

The programme aims to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO).

Duy, deputy director of the Việt Nam National Academy of Music, will open the first night with Concerto Grosso No. 1 for Violin, Piano, Percussions & Strings by Nguyễn Mạnh Duy Linh, a graduate of the Magnitogorsk State Conservatory in Russia.

The violinist will perform the concerto along with pianist Ju Sun Young from South Korean and vibraphonist Trương Ngọc Hồng Minh.

The concert will also present Double Concerto in E Minor, op. 88 for violin, viola and orchestra written by German composer Max Bruch in 1911, and Double Concerto in A Minor, op. 102 for violin, cello and orchestra by Brahms in 1887.

The performance will feature Duy, violist Yi Wen Chao from Chinese Taipei, cellist Phan Đỗ Phúc, and the HBSO symphony orchestra.

Chao, who obtained her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees at the prestigious Juilliard School of Music in the US, is currently an associate professor of viola at the Taipei National University of the Arts, while Phúc is currently appointed first conductor of the Việt Nam Youth Orchestra.

INTERNATIONAL TALENT: Violinist Vũ Việt Chương, cellist Grace Ho and pianist Max Levison will perform on the second night. Photo courtesy of HBSO

For the concert on August 26, Duy and violinist Vũ Việt Chương, who is visiting from the US, will present concerto Việt Nam Bốn Mùa (Việt Nam’s Four Seasons) by Đặng Hồng Anh, who received her Master’s degree from the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in Moscow.

Chương earned a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in violin performance from the University of Houston, and a doctorate from the University of North Texas.

He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras in the US and Việt Nam, and also performed at international music festivals in the US, UK and Brazil.

He is co-founder of the Vietnam Connection Music Festival, which attracts leading classical artists from Việt Nam and around the world.

The night will end with Triple Concerto in C Major, op. 56 for violin, cello and piano composed by Beethoven in 1803, featuring Duy and cellist Grace Ho and pianist Max Levison from the US.

Ho has appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra, Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, and Việt Nam National Symphony Orchestra. She is a founding member of the Ulysses Quartet, and also the principal cellist of the Miami Symphony Orchestra.

Levison has given recitals throughout the US, Canada and Europe. His solo debut CD is available on the N2K Classical label, while other recordings are available on Stereophile and Warner Classics/Japan, and on the Virtuoso Disklavier label.

Japanese conductor Honna Tetsuji, music director and conductor of the Việt Nam National Symphony Orchestra, will lead the concert.  

Duy is a graduate of the Tchaikovsky National Music College in Moscow. He won first prize and the gold medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in St. Petersburg in 1997.

He has performed at concerts in many European and Asian countries, as well as in prestigious halls such as Berliner Symphoniker in German, and Capella Concert Hall in Russia.

He has been executive director of Vietnam Connection Music Festival, and artistic director of Vietnam Classical Players, an ensemble-in-residence of the festival since 2015.

The concert will begin at 8pm at 7 Lam Sơn Square in District 1. Tickets are available at the venue and www.ticketbox.vn. – VNS