VietNamNet Bridge – A72-member HCM City Ballet and Symphony Orchestra (HBSO) will join its illustrious counterparts from South Korea and China in a week-long music festival opening next week in Tokyo.

Pianist Nguyen Bich Tra.

Several philarmonic orchestras including the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra from China and Busan Philharmonic Orchestra from South Korea are also performing at the festival.

The city orchestra will perform several world-renowned classical works including Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2 and Brahms’ Symphony No.2.

Vietnam’s symphonic poem Ky Uc Dong Khoi (Memoirs of the General Uprising) will also be included in the repertoire. The 10-minute symphonic poem was written by Vo Dang Tin, manager of the orchestra, in 1982.

Pianist Nguyen Bich Tra will perform with the orchestra under the baton of Tran Vuong Thach.

Thach, a graduate of the Belgian Conservatory in Liege, conducted Liege’s Jean Noel Hamal Orchestra from 1992 to 1995. He is now the main conductor of HBSO.

Pianist Tra, a graduate of the London Royal Academy of Music, has given recitals in many countries including the US, Russia, Poland, Britain, Italy, Norway and Germany.

Founded in 1994, the HBSO has held many concerts abroad. Many of its members have also received training abroad, in countries like France, Germany, Britain and the US.

(Source: Viet Nam News)