HÀ NỘI — An extravagant show of South Korean and Vietnamese music will be presented on stage at the Culture Centre in Bình Định City in central Quy Nhơn Province tonight. 

The provincial Đào Tấn Tuồng Theatre will open the show with the performance Trống Trận Tây Sơn (Tây Sơn Battle Drum) and Vietnamese traditional music. The show Trống Trận Tây Sơn honours Emperor Quang Trung and the Tây Sơn Uprising against the northern invaders at Đống Đa Mound in Hà Nội in 1789. 

The show will be performed by traditional Korean singer Kim Yeonjin, percussion ensemble Jin Myung, girl band Pengdeng-E and Vietnamese đàn bầu (monochord) artist Lê Hoài Phương. 

The six-member percussion group will present samulnori, a type of Korean percussion music that has been gaining popularity over the last few decades. Samulnori has its roots in farmer’s music and also involves dancing to celebrate harvest time. 

The music is composed by young male musicians of Jin Myung, who are trying to interpret Korean traditional music in this modern global era after studying it at various international festivals and events. They want the world to know about the excellence of Korean traditional music.

Jin Myung will also perform pangut -- a traditional rural dance of South Korea. The drummers will wear hats with long white ribbons attached to them. As they drum and dance around the stage, they keep rotating their heads or turning it from side to side, causing the ribbons to spiral above and behind them. 

Songs from Korean television dramas, such as Dae Jang Geum and Descendants of the Sun, and the movie King and The Clown will be performed by singer Yeonjin. She will be accompanied on the đàn bầu by artist Phương. 

The highlight of the show will be a performance by the two artists featuring the song Hello Việt Nam. The song was composed by Marc Lavoine in French and sung by Belgian-Vietnamese Phạm Quỳnh Anh. It was later adapted into English by Guy Balbaert and is known by the Vietnamese title Xin Chào Việt Nam. 

The song will be sung by Yeonjin in Vietnamese and English.

Pungdeng-E, a fun, all-female pop/hip-hop trio, will bring great energy to the stage when they appear in coordinated, slim-cut suits, pigtails and ball caps. They will sing K-pop songs such as Cotton Candy, Shoop and Ppi Ppi Ppa Ppa.

Đàn bầu artist Phương did his masters in traditional music at the Korean Hanyang College. He is currently teaching at the HCM City Conservatory of Music. 

The show is being organised by the Korean Cultural Centre in Hà Nội following the success of the first and second show in 2014 and 2015, and aims to introduce Korean culture and art in Vietnamese central cities and provinces.

"The show this year will showcase the diversified culture of Korea and Việt Nam, which will be presented by artists of the two countries," Lee Dae-joong, director of the cultural centre, said. "I hope the show will enhance the mutual cultural relationship between Việt Nam and Korea."

The show will also be held in Nha Trang City in the central province of Khánh Hòa on Sunday. — VNS