HÀ NỘI — The stage of the Grand Hall at the Việt Nam National Academy of Music (VNAM) will resound with music performed by Japanese musician Dai Miyata and the Việt Nam National Symphony and Orchestra (VNSO) today.

The musicians will perform under the baton of conductor Honna Tetsuji playing pieces by Vietnamese composer Trọng Bằng and Czech composer Antonin Dvorak.

Composer Trọng Bằng’s symphonic poem Người Về Đem Đến Niềm Vui (Thou Who Brought Happiness to Us) will open the concert. The piece was composed in 1990 to celebrate the 100th birthday of President Hồ Chí Minh. The composer was inspired by a song by Văn Cao which is very popular among Vietnamese.

"When I wrote the symphonic poem I thought it must be light-hearted," said composer Trọng Bằng. "One of the things that makes me happiest is that composer Văn Cao was very moved when he listens the piece".

The composer Bằng uses only five notes and great composition skills to write the symphonic poem which is one of the music pieces that praises the patriotism of each Vietnamese person.

The concert also features a cello concerto entitled Lasst mich allein (Leave Me Alone) and Symphony No 9 from The New World by Dvorak.

The cello concerto will be performed by cellist Miyata and VNSO will play the Symphony No 9.

Miyata started playing the cello at the age of three. His splendid talent attracted a great deal of attention and musicians have surrounded him since his early childhood. After age 9, he won the first prize in every contest in which he participated including the 74th Music Competition of Japan.

He won the grand prix in the 9th Rostropovich Cello Competition in 2009 and is the very first Japanese competitor to win the grand prix in the world’s most prestigious competition.

He is a recipient of various prestigious awards such as the 6th Hideo Saito Memorial Foundation Award, the 20th Idemitsu Music Prize, the 13th Hotel Okura Music Award and he received the honor to be selected as a scholarship student of the 35th Ezoe Scholarship Foundation and the Rohm Music Foundation.

The one-night concert in Hà Nội is very special. It is held by Toyota Việt Nam as part of a cultural series to mark the 45th anniversary of the Việt Nam and Japan relationship. — VNS