NDO – The 2017 ASEAN Song, Dance and Music Festival kicked off at Vinh Phuc provincial theatre, on August 20, as part of the activities to celebrate the 50th founding anniversary of ASEAN. The festival features nearly 300 artists from seven ASEAN member states, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The artists will present around 90 performances highlighting each nation’s culture. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Vuong Duy Bien stated that the event will help tighten solidarity between nations in the ASEAN Community and promotes each nation’s culture. Within the framework of the event, outstanding performances will be selected to entertain audience in Vinh Tuong district and Phuc Yen town. The festival will last until August 24, aiming to improve people’s knowledge of the ASEAN Community and increase their awareness of developing the … [Read more...]

BARCELONA: Spanish police said on Sunday (Aug 20) they had uncovered a cache of 120 gas canisters at a house believed to be the bomb-making factory of suspects in terror attacks that claimed 14 lives, as Barcelona mourned victims of the rampage. A police officer stands guard as people sit next to candles and flowers placed on the ground, after a terror attack that killed 14 people and wounded over 120 in Barcelona, Spain. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) The suspected militants had been preparing bombs for "one or more attacks in Barcelona", regional police chief Josep Lluis Trapero told reporters, revealing that traces of TATP explosive had also been found. But the suspects accidentally detonated an explosive at the house on the eve of Thursday's attack in Barcelona - an error that likely forced them to modify their … [Read more...]

NDO – Nearly 200 international and Vietnamese artists will participate in the 11th Autumn Melodies Arts Festival, held from August 19 to 27 in Ho Chi Minh City. The event is the only festival in Vietnam in the field of symphony, chamber music, opera and ballet. This event is held every two years. The ‘great party’ promises to bring the high quality spiritual foods closer to the music lovers. On the occasion, Meritorious Artist Tran Vuong Thach, who is also the conductor and Director of Ho Chi Minh City Ballet and Symphony Orchestra (HBSO), granted an interview to Nhan Dan Weekly Newspaper to share about the festival. Changing in selective thinking Q: Compared to the 10 previous times, what is the new feature of the 11th Autumn Melodies Arts Festival 2017? A: The biennial Autumn Melodies Arts Festival has long been a high-quality brand of art in Ho Chi Minh City, filtering the quintessence across three types - Opera, … [Read more...]

2017 is considered a 4G LTE boom in Vietnam as three big operators, VNPT, Mobifone and Viettel, got licensed by the Ministry of Information and Communications to establish public telecommunication networks and provide 4G telecommunication services. The 4G race has officially exploded this year, promising a strong rivalry among operators to bring consumers high-speed, best quality 4G LTE experiences to customers. This information was released at the 4G LTE International Symposium and Exhibition on “4G LTE service diversification towards enhancing efficiency of consumer satisfaction” jointly held by the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Vietnam Internet Association and International Data Group (IDG). Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Pham Hong Hai said that 2017 is a good time to vigorously deploy 4G networks in Vietnam, … [Read more...]

South Korean guitarist Sungha Jung will return to Việt Nam for live concerts in Hà Nội and HCM City on August 26 & 27.  South Korean guitarist Sungha Jung will perform in Hà Nội and HCM City on August 26 & 27. -  Photo musicweekly.asia The concerts will take place at the Việt Nam Youth Theatre and the HCM City Conservatory of Music. A Korean prodigy who started playing the guitar at the age of five, Jung is now very well-known, especially on YouTube with over 991 million views and over three million subscribers until the end of April 2015.  He has won 15 YouTube awards, including six No 1 awards. He has also composed and arranged many songs in diverse styles and has released eight albums, including his latest Mixtape in … [Read more...]

Radio Voice of Vietnam (VOV) will host an ASEAN regional song competition August 18-21 at the FLC Sam Son Resort in the northern central coastal province of Thanh Hoa. The event is organized as part of the activities celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN and the 72nd anniversary since the formation of VOV (September 7, 1945-2017). This is the first time for VOV to host a such competition for ASEAN contestants specialized in pop music. According to Director of VOV International Cooperation Department Nguyen Thuy Hoa who is also a representative of the organizing board, the pop music competition with the participation of young singers will contribute to promoting cross-cultural exchanges among ASEAN countries. In his remarks at a press briefing on the contest in Hanoi on August 7, VOV Vice President Vu Hai said apart from creating a cultural … [Read more...]

Saigon Chamber Music Festival set to start this SaturdayHoang The Phong The fourth season of the Saigon Chamber Music Festival will take place from August 5 to 13 in HCMC, featuring the the award-winning Notos Quartet in Germany - PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ORGANIZER The fourth season of the Saigon Chamber Music Festival will take place from August 5 to 13 at the HCMC Conservatory of Music in District 1. Organized by the Transposition Program in collaboration with HCMC Conservatory of Music and Goethe Institut Vietnam, the festival is aimed at helping inspire young local artists to learn and improve their knowledge and skills. The organizer says in a statement yesterday that 30 young musicians from HCMC, Hanoi and Malaysia have been chosen to participate in the week-long festival featuring four members of the award-winning Notos Quartet in Germany including violinist Sindri Lederer, viola artist Andrea Burger, cellist Philip Graham and pianist … [Read more...]

NDO – The 3rd Vietnam Connection Music Festival (VNCMF) 2017, Vietnam’s largest classical music event, will be held from August 12-26 in Hanoi, Hue, Ho Chi Minh City, with the participation of many international talents. The event promises special performances by international artists from France, the US, Taiwan (China), and China, such as pianist Jean-Louis Haguenauer, violinist Gregory Lee, violist Yi-Wen Chao, artist Li Bo and cellist Ross Gasworth, along with Vietnamese artists, including Bui Cong Duy, Ngo Hoang Linh, Phan To trinh, Chuong Vu and Quoc Huu Tran. Especially, instead of being limited to a topic as in previous years, this year's festival will offer audiences different musical styles from across Europe. Beside French and German galas, another gala will be held to present the works of composers from Russia, the UK, Hungary and the Czech Republic, many of which will be performed in Vietnam for the first time. The most outstanding feature of … [Read more...]

SAN JUAN: Something unusual is happening in La Perla, a poor barrio clinging to a steep hillside between Old San Juan and the sea where the video for the pop hit "Despacito" was filmed. A man takes a selfie in the Puerto Rican neighbourhood of La Perla, where the video for the pop hit "Despacito" was filmed. (Photo: AFP/Ricardo Arduengo) "The gringos are coming!" Outsiders were afraid to venture in before, but since Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's megahit, tourists from all over the world are descending on the narrow streets that wind among La Perla's brightly colored houses. "Despacito?" they inquire. And the barrio's residents obligingly point out the locations where the video was filmed: The rocks facing the sea where Fonsi sings the refrain, the sea wall where ex-Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera … [Read more...]

30 young musicians have been selected for Saigon Chamber Music 2017 (SCM) through a video audition; they are put in small ensembles of two to seven members and get their repertoire during the first week of July to start rehearsing. A special feature of SCM 2017 is the series of workshops at 4:30pm every day, from August 6 to 8, entitled “Daily Musical Talk.” In these workshop the Notos artists including Sindri Lederer (violin), Andrea Burger (viola), Philip Graham (cello) & Antonia Köster (piano) and British Vietnamese pianist Tra Nguyen will also join to talk about styles and schools in musical interpretations and other topics observed from their daily work with the young musicians. Young musicians of Saigon Chamber Music 2017 (SCM)  Season 4 of Saigon Chamber Music is hosted by the HCMC Conservatory of Music, in association with the Goethe-Institute Vietnam and Transposition Program. To conclude … [Read more...]

NDO – The fourth Vietnam – Japan cultural exchange festival kicked off in the central coastal city of Da Nang on July 28, bringing together over 100 artists from 60 art troupes from the two countries. The artists are scheduled to introduce both the traditional and contemporary culture of Vietnam and Japan through their artistic performances at three shows to be held every evening during the three-day the event. Vietnam’s cultural features will be highlighted through Bai Choi folk singing, folk dances of the Co Tu ethnic group, classical drama plays, Don Ca Tai Tu (Southern amateur music), martial arts, and performances of traditional musical instruments, such as the monochord and T'rung, a bamboo xylophone played by the Central Highlanders. Meanwhile, the Japanese artists will introduce their traditional cultural practices such as the Japanese arts of tea ceremony, flower arrangement, calligraphy and traditional dances. A … [Read more...]

NDO – Pham Le Phuong, a student from the Vietnam National Academy of Music, has won the first prize in her age group, for 11-13 year-old contestants, at the seventh Mozart International Piano Competition held in Thailand on July 22-25. Phuong, 12 years old, was among 10 contestants who made it to the semi final round of the contest, which was held at Yamaha Ratchadapisek Music School, Bangkok. She won the admiration of the judges and walked away with the highest prize thanks to her superb performance of ‘Mozart concerto No 23 in A major’ in the final round. Previously, Pham Le Phuong had come second at the 2015 contest. She has also won a lot of prestigious prizes including second prize at the third Hanoi International Piano Contest in 2015 and third prize at the ASEAN-China Youth Piano Competition in Nanning, China, in the same year. The seventh Mozart International Piano Competition attracted participants from China, … [Read more...]

A Vietnamese version of the famous musical Chicago will be staged at HCM City’s Quân Đội (Army) Theatre early next month. Humane values: Young actors of the Buffalo Theatre Club will perform a Vietnamese version of the musical "Chicago", directed by Khắc Duy, in HCM City. - Photo courtesy of Buffalo Theatre Club The Broadway-style show is a production by young director Khắc Duy, one of the founders of the Buffalo Theatre Club. Duy and his producer, Hoàng Quân, spent more than US$4,000 to pay for copyright use to stage Chicago in four shows. “I want to develop the art in Việt Nam, and I can see profits in the future,” said the 27-year-old. Duy’s Chicago uses jazz, swing and pop rock.   The play includes two acts … [Read more...]

Ngoc will play The Four Seasons by Vivaldi, a group of four violin concerti, each of which features a season of the year. It was written in 1721 and first performed in 1725 in Amsterdam.  Vietnamese-French violinist and chamber music performer Stéphane Tran Ngoc. Photo courtesy of HBSO  The musician will also perform Distant Light, a concerto for violin and wind orchestra written by Latvian composer Peteris Vasks in 1996.  The concert’s conductor is Meritorious Artist Tran Vuong Thach.  Ngoc completed his training in violin and chamber music at the Paris National Superior Conservatory of Music when he was 15. He received a master’s degree at the Brooklyn College’s Conservatory of Music before pursuing a doctorate at Juilliard School.  He has performed with leading orchestras, such as the Radio-France Philharmonic, Monte Carlo Philharmonic, National Orchestra … [Read more...]

Toyota Motor Vietnam (TMV) yesterday launched the Toyota Concert 2017 performed by the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra (VNSO) under the support from Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism. With the main theme “The Romantic Love Songs”, the concert nights this year will continue to be under the baton of the Japanese experienced conductor Honna Tetsuji – the conductor that has supported and accompanied with Toyota Concert from the first days, as well as the first-time partipation of young talented pianist Nguyen Viet Trung and two famous Vietnamese singers Dang Duong and Dao To Loan. This is the 20th year that TMV has co-operated with VNSO to organise this event, in order to bring classical music nearer to music lovers, by that, contribute to bring a better life for Vietnamese. This year, beside three concert nights in Ho Chi Minh Theatre on August 16 and Hanoi Opera … [Read more...]

The International Finger-Style Guitar Festival (IFSGF) is an annual event that has been held in Asia since 2010. This year, the IFSGF welcomes famous finger-picking guitarists from all over the world.  Justin King (USA) Renowned for his percussive "tapping" style influenced by Flamenco and Celtic music, Justin King inspires audiences with his cutting-edge techniques. Jacques Stotzem (Belgium) Stotzem is one of the world's most versatile fingerstyle guitarists with an innovative approach, and an unique and refined musical style. Agustin Amigo (Germany) "Sensational, sweet and heart-wrenching" is how Agustin Amigo's performances have been described. His clear vocals and unique playing style create bold notes that blend into captivating music. Akihiro Tanaka (Japan) As an artist for Yamaha Music, Akihiro Tanaka is known for hits such as "Silver Wings" and "Etude of the Sun". His style is a combination of smooth transitions, attractive rhythms and striking … [Read more...]

A new classical music programme will be staged twice a month in HCM City with the aim of attracting young people to the genre. The programme, The Friday 9 music, includes more than 25 foreign and Vietnamese musicians and singers of the Saigon IDECAF Acoustica Troupe. Featured artists include American drummer Ronnie Williams and bass player Steve Desvaux Desire. Young Vietnamese talents, including violinist Nguyen Dan Cat Du, pianist Minh Dang, and singers Dong Lan, Vo Le Vy and Ho Quang Hung, are also included.    More than 200 people attended their first show last week at the IDECAF Music Hall in District 1. The artists performed popular foreign works, including Je T’aime, La Vie en Rose and Nocturne, remixed by Philadelphia-based Mario Trane. They also performed Vietnamese … [Read more...]

The orchestra of the HCMC Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) will join the performance under the conductor, Meritorious Artist Tran Vuong Thach. Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons has ever been performed by many local and international artists, including Bui Cong Duy, Sarah Chang. Composed in 1723, ”The Four Seasons” is considered one of the most daring works from the Baroque Period.   Vietnamese-French violinist Stéphane Tran Ngoc The violin concerto Distant Light, premiered in 1977 describe the ideal world that is never absent. The work is also a nostalgia with a touch of tragedy and images of childhood memories. Stephane Tran Ngoc was born in Paris. He graduated in violin and chamber music at the Paris National Superior Conservatory of Music when he was 15 years old. He later went to the United States being awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study at Brooklyn College's Conservatory of … [Read more...]

The 3rd Việt Nam International Fingerstyle Guitar Festival will be held in Hà Nội and HCM City on July 18 & 19. His own style: Belgian guitarist Jacques Stotzem. - Photo fanart.tv.com Five artists will perform at the festival: American Justin King; Belgian Jacques Stotzem; Spaniard Augstin Amigo; Japanese Akihiro Tanaka and Vietnamese Duy Phong.  Phong will perform two Vietnamese pieces Tóc Ngắn (Short Hair) and Mẹ Yêu Con (Mother Loves Her Child). Tóc Ngắn is a popular song first brought out by A-listed pop singer Mỹ Linh in 2000. It was arranged by Phong. Mẹ Yêu Con was composed by Nguyễn Văn Tý in 1956. It is one of the most loved songs about maternal love. Tý used lullabies from the north and emotional lyrics … [Read more...]

The HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) will celebrate original contemporary music and dance works by Vietnamese composers and choreographers at a special performance at the city’s Opera House on July 9. The dance Ru Đêm (Night Lullaby) will be part of HBSO’s special programme to celebrate contemporary Vietnamese music and dance works at the Opera House on July 7. Features will be the premiere of Spring Prayer Suit for orchestra and choir by composer Vũ Việt Anh, who is popular among local music fans with pop songs like Dòng Sông Lơ Đãng (Wandering River) and Đêm Nằm Mơ Phố (Dreaming of Town). “Spring Prayer Suit is a simple work which contains memories of my childhood and places where I’ve travelled, and images of where I have never gone,” Anh said. “It depicts spring and the … [Read more...]