A concert with the presence of two famous Japanese artists – conductor Honna Tetsuji and young pianist Tamura Hibiki – will take place at the Hanoi Opera House at 8 pm, April 8-9.

Continuing a series of events in Vietnam and around the world with a spirit of mutual support for Japan amidst the suffering and loss after the terrible disaster, the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra will give a concert with the participation of young talented Japanese Pianist Hibiki Tamura.

The program includes two of the best-loved works of the Romantic Music: Concerto No. 2 for Piano & Orchestra in C minor by S. Rachmaninov and Symphony No. 2 in C major by R. Schumann.

The concert will be orchestrated and conducted by famous Japanese conductor Honna Tetsuji.

The concert accidentally has the same title with VietNamNet’s concert for Japan ten days ago – “Be Strong Japan!”.

Through the Japanese Embassy in Hanoi and the Red Cross, all proceeds from the program will be sent to support the victims in Japan.

The tickets are available now at the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, 226 Cau Giay Dist., Hanoi. Tel: (84-4)-8331448, 8337847; 0913588887- Fax: (84-4)-8334968 and the Hanoi Opera House, N0. 1 Trang Tien Street or for online booking at .

Tamura Hibiki

Born in December 1986, Tamura started the piano when he was three years old. He took piano lessons from Naohito Fukaya at age six, and later, at age 12, he started taking lessons from Claudio Soares. After graduating the Meiwa High School music department in the Aichi prefecture, he now studies at the University Mozarteum Salzburg under John Christoph Lieske.

After winning several prizes at the junior Competition in Japan, in 2002 he was the second prize winner in the B section of the Etlingen International Piano Competition. In August of the same year, he was the grand prix winner of the 26th annual PTNA Piano Competition. In November he was the winner of the 18th annual Takahiro Sonoda Piano Competition, receiving the Takahiro Sonoda Prize. And Tamura won 1st prize at the Long-Thibaud International Piano Competition in October, 2007.

He has also garnered scholarships from the Daiko Foundation and Ezoe Foundation in 2003. He received the Idemitsu Music Prize in 2006.

His successful performances include the Mozarteum concert in Salzburg (1994), performing the Mozart K414 with the Chamber Orchestra in Warsaw, Poland (1997), four recitals in Brazil, and also participated in the Liszt Festival in Utrecht, Holland, and the Animato Festival in Cortot Hall, Paris.

After winning the 1st prize at the Long-Thibaud International Piano Competition, he was invited to perform recitals in France, Germany, Italy, Egypt, China and more.

Tamura also released his first debut album “Hibiki Tamura Debut Album” in 2004 and 2nd album in 2008.

Honna Tetsuji

Tetsuji Honna studied under Kazuo Yamada and Michiyoshi Inoue. His awards include 1st prize in the 1985 Tokyo International Music Competition for conducting; 2nd prize in the 1990 Toscanini International Conducting Competition; 1st prize in the 1992 Budapest International Conducting Competition; and the 1997 Osaka Stage Arts Encouragement Award.

In 1991 Honna presented works by Dutch and Japanese composers with the Hato Ensemble at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, as part of a Holland-Japan Week. In the same year he made his debuts with the Zagreb Philharmonic and the “Arturo Toscanini” Symphony Orchestra in Parma.

Tetsuji Honna has conducted numerous orchestras such as the Hungarian State Philharmonic, the Zagreb Philharmonic, the Brno State Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (also on a tour to Japan in June 2006), the Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra and the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. In 1997 he made his debuts with the Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted the Netherlands Philharmonic in Amsterdam, a concert that was immediately followed by several reinvitations.

He is also a regular guest with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra in Ljubljana with which he has recorded several CDs. In October 2005 he has conducted subscription concerts with Christian Tetzlaff.

Also he conducted Viotta Ensemble which consists of the principal musicians of Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with Nobuko Imai in Tokyo in 2005.

Since 2001 he has been Music Adviser and Conductor of the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra. In October 2004 he led this orchestra with great success on a Japan tour to Tokyo and Osaka and has opened their subscription concert since season 2005.

Honna has been invited to many international festivals including the Carinthischer Sommer in Austria, the Bartók Festival in Szombathely, Mostly Mozart in Tokyo, Seoul in Autumn 2000, and Asian Music Festival 1992 and 2003. He has worked with many of the world’s leading soloists such as Martha Argerich, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Antonio Meneses and Cecile Licade.

In Japan Tetsuji Honna was appointed permanent conductor of the Osaka Symphony Orchestra (1995 - 2001) and Principal Conductor of the Japan Chamber Orchestra (1993 - 1997) which plays mainly 20th century music. From 1998 to 2001 Honna was Permanent Guest Conductor of the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra.

In the opera world, he has directed modern works such as “Chung Hyang” by Toroku Takagi and “Orpheo of Hiroshima” by Yasushi Akutagawa, which was recorded and highly acclaimed. In 2004 Honna directed two exciting operas in Tokyo and Osaka with great acclaim: “Momo” by Toshi Ichiyanagi, and “Satyricon” by Bruno Maderna.

Currently, he is the director of the Orchestra Nipponica, founded in 2003, in addition to his work with the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, Music.

Van Sam