HCM CITY — Còn Mãi Bản Hùng Ca (The Legends Live On), a special music and dance show to celebrate the 128th birthday of President Hồ Chí Minh (May 19), will be staged at the city’s Opera House on May 19.

The show will open with composer Nguyễn Mạnh Duy Linh’s latest symphony Huyền Thoại Mùa Xuân (Legend of the Spring), which will be performed by the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO).

Linh studied composing at Magnitogorsk State Conservatory in Russia from 2000 and graduated in 2008 with a Master of Arts degree.

In 2007, he won the Best Composer prize at the 4th International Festival of Music in Chelyabinsk in Russia for his concerto for violin and chamber orchestra.

Linh’s compositions have been performed by famous Vietnamese and foreign soloists like Bùi Công Duy and Sergei Sivolgin.

He has also composed music for HBSO’s ballets, HCM City Television’s serials and a few movies.

In 2013, he won the Best Composer award at the Golden Kite Film Festival for his score for the movie Đường Đua (The Race).

He now works as a manager of the performing arts department and a stage manager at HBSO, and as a lecturer at the HCM City Conservatory of Music.

The show will continue with the ballet Còn Mãi Bản Hùng Ca, which portrays soldiers and people in Southern Việt Nam in the resistance war against the Americans. 

The play was choreographed by People’s Artists Vũ Việt Cường and Kim Quy, and their students Phúc Hùng and Phúc Hải. Its music was composed by Meritorious Artist Trần Vương Thạch

Cường and Quy have made a great contributions to the development of HBSO and the country’s dance sector.

Hùng and Hải have choreographed many contemporary ballets, such as Ru Đêm (Night Lullaby), Chạm Tay Vào Quá Khứ (Touching the Past) and Những Mảnh Ghép Của Giấc Mơ (Dream Puzzles). All have received high praise from critics and audiences.

The 60-minute ballet will feature HBSO’s dancers and orchestra.

The show will begin at 8pm at 7 Lam Sơn Square in District 1. Tickets are available at the venue and at www.ticketbox.vn. — VNS