HCM CITY— A music gala on Vietnamese music will be staged in HCM City next week to celebrate 19 years of the TV music show Thay Lời Muốn Nói (What We Want to Say) on HCM City Television.

The event will feature 30 veteran and young singers, including pop stars Cẩm Vân, Đan Trường and Hồ Quỳnh Hương.

Young artists Thanh Duy and Quốc Thiên, and the pop band MTV, will be featured.

They will sing romantic and folk songs in praise of the nation and its people. Revolutionary works by composers Trần Hoàn and Phan Huỳnh Điểu will be highlighted.

The artists will perform before more than 1,000 guests at the HCM City Television Theatre.

Thay Lời Muốn Nói features new contemporary folk and pop music by both veteran and young composers. Revolutionary music is featured in special shows airing in national holidays.

“Thay Lời Muốn Nói began its first show in 2000. Our producers wanted to encourage TV viewers, particularly young people, love and learn more Vietnamese music,” said the show’s host Quỳnh Hương, who also works as a producer.      

"We believe that by singing and listening to Vietnamese songs, young generations can improve their love and knowledge about the country and its history.”

“After working in Thay Lời Muốn Nói for nearly two decades, we gained a very interesting insight: while different pop and dance tunes appear and vanish from the entertainment market every few months, revolutionary songs endure at out shows,” she said.

Performed monthly at the HCM City Television Theatre, the music programme last year attracted nearly 10,000 guests, many of them young people who often prefer Korean and American music.

The programme is also broadcast on HTV9 which allows many people who live in remote areas to see it.  

“Young composers, particularly students from music schools, are encouraged to create songs based on folk tunes and introduce their new works at our show,” said musician and singer Cao Minh, member of the HCM City Musicians’ Association and a member of the programme’s organising board.  

Minh often performs in the programme.  

Although Minh’s music is operatic, his source of inspiration was from singing folk works such as Tiếng Hát Từ Lòng Đất (Singing from the Land) by Phạm Minh Tuấn and Nhớ Các Anh (Missing You) by Thế Hiển, which feature Vietnamese soldiers.

Minh said the programme’s producers have worked with veteran musicians to select the best Vietnamese songs in different periods and offer guidance to the singers during their performances.  

The gala Thay Lời Muốn Nói will be held at HCM City Television Theatre, 14 Đinh Tiên Hoàng Street, District 1, on April 9. It will air at 8pm on HTV9 channel and YouTube HTV on April 21. —VNS