HCM CITY — French conductor Laurent Boer, director of Ensemble Polyphonique de Choisy-le-Roi, and choir members of the art troupe will hold a concert in HCM City Opera House on Saturday.

The show will also highlight Hợp Ca Quê Hương, a well-known vocal ensemble of Vietnamese working or studying in France who have a passion for performing patriotic songs. It was created in 2009 and is conducted by Nguyễn Ngân Hà.

They will perform works by Vietnamese and foreign composers with vocalists of HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO).

The concert will open with Linh Giác by late Vietnamese-French contemporary composer Nguyễn Thiện Đạo, whose music is a combination of European and Asian music.

Linh Giác tells the story of two Vietnamese kings, Lý Thai To (974-1028) who moved the country’s capital from Hoa Lư to Thăng Long (Ha Noi) in 1010, and King-Monk Trần Nhân Tông (1258-1308), founder of Vietnamese Zen Buddhism.

The composition will be performed by soprano Phạm Khánh Ngọc, the choir of Ensemble Polyphonique de Choisy-le-Roi, Hợp Ca Quê Hương and HBSO symphony orchestra.

French conductor Laurent Boer. Photo courtesy of HBSO

Vietnamese-French violinist Phạm Vinh will join with the symphony orchestra in an excellent work for violin, Violin Concerto in E Minor, by German composer Mendelssohn.

Vinh started playing violin at the age of seven with famous French musicians in Paris. He gave his first concerts as a soloist at 13, and won top prizes at international chamber music competitions.

In 1987, he studied at International Menuhin Music Academy-Gstaad, Switzerland, and played at prestigious concert halls in Europe. Then, he came back to Paris to continue his studies.

Vinh has performed numerous concerts and been accompanied by famous orchestras in Europe, the US, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Middle East.

The programme will end with Bach’s Magnificant for four voices, a choir and a symphony orchestra.

The work will feature vocalists Phạm Duyên Huyên, Nguyễn Vũ Uyên Di, Phạm Trang and Đào Mác, together with the choir of the French ensemble, Hợp Ca Quê Hương and HBSO symphony orchestra.

The concert will be arranged by conductor Laurent Boer, owner of Order of Academic Palms - a national order of France for distinguished academics and figures in culture and education.

He was also the author of various cultural and educational projects in the Comenius European Programmes.

Boer has been conductor of the Ensemble Polyphonique de Choisy-le-Roi since it was established in 1981 in Val-de-Marne Department, Paris.

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