HÀ NỘI — A concert featuring musicians of South Korea and Việt Nam performing with the Korean Symphony Orchestra will take place at Hà Nội Opera House tonight.

Chi-Yong Chung will conduct award-winning artists including pianist Đặng Thái Sơn and soprano Sunyoung Seo. It is the first Sơn has performed with the orchestra under conductor Chung.

Sorprano Sunyoung Seo

The concert entitled Korea - Việt Nam New Year Concert will be a mix of master pieces and Korean folk music. The master will be Piano Concerto by Norwegian Edvard Grieg and Radetzky March by J. Strauss I and opera extracts Pace, pace mio Dio from La Forza Del Destino by Verdi; Overture from Die Fledermaus by J. Strauss II and Russian Dance from The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky. 

Korean folk pieces Seya Seya and Sin Arirang are arranged by musicians Chae Dong Sun and Kim Dong Jin for the symphony orchestra. 

Conductor Chung is music director and principal conductor at Korean Symphony Orchestra. He used to be chairman of Korean Conductors’ Association and has performed as guest conductor with many orchestras in the world such as Radio Symphony of Leipzig, Russian Philharmonic and Michigan State Symphony. The conductor also receives Austrian Culture Ministry Award and Music Association of Korean.

Pianist Đặng Thái Sơn

Sơn is Việt Nam’s world-renowned concert pianist who was the first Asian to win first prize and the gold medal at the X Warsaw International Chopin Piano Competition in 1980. 

He was presented with the Golden Medal for Merit to Culture from Poland and is currently piano faculty member of Oberlin Conservatory of Music in the US and guest professor at the Universite de Montreal in Canada.

Leader: Conductor Chi Yong Chung. Photos courtesy of organisation board

Soprano Seo won first prize at International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 2011, one of the three biggest competitions in the world. She also won the Maria Carras Grand Prize in Athens, Greece in 2010. 

The Korean Symphony Orchestra has been working to elevate its standing since it started in 1985. For the past 30 years the orchestra has more than 90 performances each year both domestically and abroad. 

Hà Nội-concert is the first event to be held in Việt Nam by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in co-ordination with Korean embassy. It kicks off a wide range of cultural and art exchange activities between the two countries. — VNS