EXPERT FIDDLER: Vietnamese-American violist Chương Vũ will perform at the Việt Nam – US Friendship Concert, which will take place on October 28 at the HCM City Conservatory of Music. — Photo courtesy of HBSO

HCM CITY – Compositions by Vietnamese and American composers will be featured at the Việt Nam – US Friendship Concert in HCM City on October 28.

The concert is co-organised by the HCM City Union of Friendship Organisations, the city’s Việt Nam – US Friendship Association, and the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO).

The programme will open with the six-part Symphonic Suite Bóng Trăng Qua Thềm (Moonlight on Doorstep) by Vietnamese composer Trọng Đài, music director of the Voice of Việt Nam radio station.

Đài, a graduate from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Music in Moscow, has composed hundreds of solo and ensemble pieces for Western instruments as well as traditional Vietnamese instruments. He has also written songs for theatre, television and cinema, with some of his works becoming popular with audiences.

The symphony will be performed by the HBSO symphony orchestra.

Vietnamese-American violist Chương Vũ will continue the night with a solo performance of Romance for Violin and Chamber Orchestra, written by American composer and pianist Amy Beach in 1893.

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.

EVENING OF ART: Soprano Nguyễn Thị Thanh Nga will sing songs based on poems by Hồ Xuân Hương composed by P. Q. Phan. — Photo courtesy of HBSO

The concert will then feature songs based on poems by Hồ Xuân Hương (1772-1822), the nation’s outstanding female poet, honoured as “The Queen of Nôm poetry” who had many works reach the pinnacle of poetry.

The songs are composed by Đà Nẵng-born P. Q. Phan, who emigrated to America in 1982.

His works honour Vietnamese heritage, and are performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Soprano Nguyễn Thị Thanh Nga will bring Phan’s works to the audience at the concert.

The night will end with An American in Paris, an orchestral work written by George Gershwin, one of the US’s most well-known 20th-century composers.

It premiered at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 1928.

The performance will feature the HBSO symphony orchestra.

The concert will be staged and led by Meritorious Artist and conductor Trần Vương Thạch.

Thạch, former director of HBSO, 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, Japan, 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 concert will begin at 8pm at the HCM City Conservatory of Music at 112 Nguyễn Du Street in District 1. — VNS