HÀ NỘI — Musicians from Việt Nam National Symphony and Orchestra (VNSO) and artists from WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne and Japan will perform a concert to celebrate VNSO’s 100th show on April 14.

The concert will be held at the Việt Nam National Academy of Music’s Grand Hall in Hà Nội.

Jointly organised by the VNSO, Goethe Institute in Hà Nội and the Japan Cultural Exchange Centre, Subscription Concert Vol 100 will celebrate the fact that it is the orchestra’s 100th concert over the past 12 years.

The VNSO’s annual concert series, which started in 2005, includes 10 concerts every year at which famous symphonies by Vietnamese and world composers are introduced to local music lovers.

The artists will play two pieces, including a nocturne by Vietnamese composer Đỗ Hồng Quân and a symphony by Russian Dmitri Shostakovich.

Quân composed the nocturne in 1995 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the south liberation and the country’s unification. Titled Tiếng Vọng (The Echo), the nocturne has four movements, including Ngược Dòng Thời Gian-Trăng Của Tình Yêu (Date Back to Time-Moon of Love); Tiếng Vọng Chiến Trường Xưa (Echo from the Old Battlefield); Đợi Chờ Trong Im Lặng (Waiting in Silence); and Những Tượng Đài Bất Tử (Immortal Statues).

“I wrote The Echo as a dedication to all the Vietnamese people who sacrificed their lives for national liberation and independence,” said Quân, who is also chairman of Việt Nam Musicians’ Association. “Through this piece I want to express my deep gratitude to Vietnamese martyrs during the nation’s decades-long struggle.”

The piece was performed by HCM Ballet and Symphony Orchestra at the 13th Asia Orchestra Week in Tokyo in 2014.

The other piece that will be performed is Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony, also called Leningrad Symphony. It has four movements that the composer, who died in 1975, originally provided with the titles: War, Memories, Homeland Steppes, and Victory. The symphony is an artistic legacy and expression of resistance against the German war, which up until 1944 was directed against the city and the citizens of Leningrad.

Japanese oboist Maekawa Kosei and three German musicians – the bugler Premysl Vojta, the trombonist Michael Massong, and the trumpeter Martin Griebl – will perform along with the VNSO.

Vojta was invited to perform in Việt Nam in 2014 as a solo hornist by the Goethe Institute in Hà Nội. Born in Czech Republic in 1983, he won the first prize at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich in 2010. He has worked with the Prague Philharmonics, Staatskapelle Berlin and Konzerthausorchester Berlin.

Trumpeter Griebl took his first trumpet lessons at the age of seven and now plays with different ensembles. He has also worked as a solo trumpeter with prestigious orchestras, including Berlin Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra London, and Leipzig Symphony Orchestra.

Born in Germany, trombonist Massong has devoted himself to activities as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher. As a guest he has played at numerous international orchestras, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.

The concert will begin at 8pm and will be conducted by Tetsuji Honna. — VNS