HCM CITY — The HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) will celebrate original contemporary music and dance works by Vietnamese composers and choreographers at a special performance at the city’s Opera House on July 9.

Features will be the premiere of Spring Prayer Suit for orchestra and choir by composer Vũ Việt Anh, who is popular among local music fans with pop songs like Dòng Sông Lơ Đãng (Wandering River) and Đêm Nằm Mơ Phố (Dreaming of Town).

“Spring Prayer Suit is a simple work which contains memories of my childhood and places where I’ve travelled, and images of where I have never gone,” Anh said. “It depicts spring and the changing of the seasons.”

Anh was trained in New Zealand. His instrumental works include Vô Đề Cầm (Untitled Instrument), Trường Sơn Suite and Chân Trời (Horizon), which are highly regarded and welcomed by critics and audiences.

The performance will continue with Hồi Tưởng (Reminiscence) by Nguyễn Mạnh Duy Linh, a graduate of the Magnitogorsk State Conservatory in Russia, and Prelude and Fugue for orchestra by Nguyễn Đỗ Anh Tuấn, who graduated in composition and conducting at the Berklee College of Music in the US.

All three works will be performed by the orchestra and the choir led by conductor Trần Nhật Minh.

The second part of the programme will highlight contemporary dance Ru Đêm (Night Lullaby) created by three young choreographers Nguyễn Phúc Hùng, Nguyễn Phúc Hải and Sùng A Lùng.

The piece reflects the inner feeling of a homosexual man and his passion for love and dance as well as his loneliness. Dancers Lùng, Phan Tiểu Ly and Phan Thái Bình will perform.

Ru Đêm, which premiered last month, was warmly welcomed by audiences.

The work was first choreographed and performed by Lùng in the 2016 National Young Choreographer Talent Competition, bringing him the Gold Medal.

The dance inspired Hải and Hùng, who worked with Lung to add more moves and feelings to the work.

The two choreographers are famous for contemporary dance pieces, including Chạm Tay Vào Quá Khứ (Touching the Past), and Đi Qua Tình Yêu (Gone Through Love).

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