HÀ NỘI — A concert featuring Vietnamese and Japanese talents and the National Symphony and Orchestra (VNSO) will begin on Friday at the Hà Nội Opera House.

Toyota Concert 2019 is held annually to promote Vietnamese music talents.

The concert will include opera and other musical pieces performed by young violinist Đỗ Phương Nhi, soprano vocalist Phạm Khánh Ngọc, tenor Fueda Hiroaki and the VNSO.

Ngọc and Hioaki will sing the extracts from the popular operas Cosi Fan Tutte, La Scala Di Seta, Gianni Schicchi and La Traviata.

Japanese tenor Fueda Hiroaki. — Photo courtesy of Toyota Concert 2019

Ngọc is a coloratura soprano who won second prize at the SLO-ASEAN Vocal Competition in Singapore. She has participated in master classes with Norwegian Siri Torjesen, South Korean Kim Shin-ja and Dutch Bernadette Heyne.

Japanese tenor Hiroaki is a member of the Fujiwara Opera Company. After graduating in music and vocal performance from Nagoya University of Arts he has won numerous awards, including the 20th Goto Memorial Cultural Award for Opera Newcomers and first place at the 50th Nihon Vocal Concorso, the Igarashi Kiyoshi Award and the Okabe Takiko Award. 

A highlight of the concert will be Nhi's performance of Mozart’s Violin Concerto.

Born to a musical family, Nhi’s both parents are violinists. Nhi showed her passion for music at young age, beginning to learn violin at the age of four. At 11, she was able to perform difficult classical pieces and she has had a solo performance with the VNSO.

Nhi currently is studying at Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo, Norway. She was the winner of the Sparre Olsen competition for Norwegian violin talent in 2015.

She has performed with many orchestras including Forsvarets-Musikk, the Romerike Symphony Orchestra and the Fort Collins Symphony. This will be Nhi's third performance at Toyota Concert.

The concert will be led by Japanese conductor Tetsuji Honna, who has conducted the show since its first edition in 1998.

After the show in Hà Nội, the concert will be held in Hải Phòng on August 10 and HCM City on August 13. Composer Lưu Quang Minh and rapper Suboi will be in the HCM City concert. 

All proceeds will go to the Toyota Việt Nam Music Talent Fund. — VNS