HCM CITY— Vietnamese-French pianist Trí Nguyễn will stage a recital in HCM City’s French Culture Exchange Institute (IDECAF) next week.

He will play new pieces in his third album, Beyond Borders, a combination of Vietnamese folk music and traditional music of European countries. The album was released in Paris early this month.

Beyond Borders features folk songs called Lý, such as Lý Con Sáo (Singing about Birds) and Lý Ngựa Ô (Singing about Black Horses), which are popular in the central and south regions.

Lý, a genre of Vietnamese folk songs, was developed from children’s songs, the traditional music of the central royal city of Huế, music of chèo (traditional opera) in the north, and cải lương (reformed theatre) in the south.

On his album, Trí invited Corsican artists to sing Lý Con Sáo accompanied by piano and the Vietnamese instrument đàn tranh or đàn tam thập lục (16-chord zither). 

In her interview with Thể Thao & Văn Hóa (Sports & Culture) newspaper of Việt Nam News Agency, Trí said that music on Beyond Borders reflects the sounds of his heart and mind and his desire to show the value of Vietnamese music to the world. 

“My album, Beyond Borders, is like my journey to return home after travelling to many places around the world,” he said. 

His concert in HCM City will include works from his first album Consonnances, which features the đàn tranh and a string quartet of a viola, a cello and two violins. 

The album won a Gold Medal at the 2015 Global Music Awards, an international awards event founded in 1989 under the patronage of Albert II, Prince of Monaco, based in Monte Carlo.

“Vietnamese music should be played by artists in largest theatres,” said Trí, who has lived in France for 29 years. 

Trí began studying music when he was a child. After graduating from the Sài Gòn National Music and Drama School (now HCM City Music Conservatory), he moved to France to study at the Ecole Normale de Musicque de Paris.

He is a master of the piano and the Vietnamese zither. He has performed for leading orchestras, theatres and radios in the US and Europe.

His show at the IDECAF will begin at 8pm on February 13, at 31 Thái Văn Lung Street, District 1. — VNS