HCM CITYI — Pop star Quang Dũng will perform in HCM City, Hà Nội and California early next month at three sound and light shows for fans celebrating his 20-year career. 

Dũng will perform with friends, female singers Hồng Nhung, Lệ Quyên, Mỹ Tâm and Phạm Thu Hà, and Vietnamese-American singers Hồng Ngọc and Thanh Thảo, who have contributed to the country’s contemporary music.  

The 41-year-old Dũng said he would sing with support of the orchestra.   

"I was a rural boy and moved to live alone in HCM City to pursue my dream of singing. I faced challenges to develop my career without studying,” said Dũng at a press conference to launch his tour in HCM City. 

“My tour will provide fans with stories of my life, instead of just my music,” he said. 

Though he will be singing songs that shot him to fame, Dũng said that new styles would be featured. 

His tour, called Giấc Mơ Mang Tên Mình (My Dream), will be directed by veteran artist Phạm Hoàng Nam of HCM City.

“Most of Dũng’s pop songs and ballads will be remixed in the style of classical opera by composer Việt Anh of the HCM City Ballet Symphony and Opera Orchestra (HBSO),” said the event’s art director Nam.

“Dũng will also try electronic music to meet the demand of his young fans,” he added.

The show’s conductor is young talent Trần Nhật Minh of the HBSO.

Highlights will include romantic songs written by veteran musicians Trịnh Công Sơn, Phú Quang, Vũ Thành An and Ngô Thụy Miên, such as Hoa Vàng Mấy Độ (Yellow Flowers in Seasons), Hà Nội Ngày Trở Về ( Hà Nội, the Day to Return) and Ở Nơi Nào Em Còn  Nhớ (Do You Remember).

Dũng, who lives in the US, will also perform a series of songs by female musician Diệu Hương, which made him a pop idol among audiences at home and abroad.

Born in a poor family in Bình Định Province’s Quy Nhơn City, Dũng began his singing career in 1998. Faced with many obstacles, he spent years singing in restaurants before hitting it big.

Dũng has won acclaim from audiences in HCM City and the southern provinces, winning the most popular pop singer award, Blue Waves, in 2003, 2004 and 2005 from the Voice of HCM City.

In 2005, he received the title “Young People Live Well” presented by the Việt Nam Young People’s Union.   

He has won several top prizes presented by TV stations and newspapers, including Việt Nam Television and HCM City Television.

The first show of Giấc Mơ Mang Tên Minh will open at 8pm on March 18 in HCM City’s Hòa Bình Theatre at 240 3 Tháng 2 Street, District 10. The second show will take place on March 31 at the Hà Nội Friendship Palace, 91 Trần Hưng Đạo Street, Hoàn Kiếm District.

The tour will close with a special performance on May 14 at the City National Grove of Anaheim concert hall in Anaheim, California.— VNS