VietNamNet Bridge - Music, what is it good for? Absolutely everything.

Ho Hai Quang (second right) and his friends at the concert during the week-long Viet Nam Days.

From consoling the heart-broken to paying tribute to friends, music has helped make and mend friendships, and it did so on a large scale last week with a concert of solidarity to show support for the victims of Agent Orange.

The week-long Viet Nam Days concert, which lasted from October 22-31, was organised by the musical association of Ile de Reunion, entitled Orange DiHoxyn. The concert closed last Friday at the university of Saint-Denis in La Reunion, France, having attracted artists from several countries.

“I hope the programme will first make the general public aware of Reunion Island, while also collecting a little money to help Vietnamese victims,” said Ho Hai Quang, the association’s president.

Diverse programmes

The programme, which began on October 22, included several activities, starting off with lectures and conferences about the lingering effects of Agent Orange in Viet Nam by Claude Vinh San (the son of former King Duy Tan) and Ho Hai Quang, the association’s president.

They were followed by a 22-minute long documentary La Guerre Qui Ne Finit Pas (The War that Never Ends), by Bruno Bouliane, a Canadian film-maker who went to Viet Nam in 2007. His documentary features how the Vietnamese population takes care of its Agent Orange victims and their families.

The event continued with conferences and concerts in Saint Pierre, comparing Chinese and Vietnamese music, and on Vietnamese traditional music.

The programme ended with a concert of solidarity on October 31 at the University of Saint Denis. The daily newspaper Temoignage reported on the event, “It was a perfect success, thanks to the talent and the diversity of artists intensity and solidarity were expressed that night between the two peoples, Viet Nam and la Reunion. The richness of the music of la Reunion and Viet Nam, but also the content of the songs performed, truly touched the public.

“This success will surely encourage the organisers of the event to continue their exemplary battle to support the victims of this weapon of mass destruction poured by American imperialists on the Vietnamese people.”

Possibly one of the most memorable moments was when Elie Hoarau, General Secretary of the Communist Party of la Reunion, offered Quang a cover page of the issue of Temoignage published on May 1, 1975 that saluted the victory of the Vietnamese people in its fight for liberation.

Music is the ‘lever’

Quang said he hoped the programme and his association would help Americans recognise the harm they caused to the Vietnamese people and try to make amends.

“With the music, if we can unite musicians, at first in La Reunion and then at the international level, if we can have a bigger concert each year, in an international arena, I think we can rally global pressure, like we did during the war,” said Quang.

“I chose music because it’s a privileged means of expression but I also know that painters and other artists are ready to follow us,” he added. “It can be a lever to help us achieve this objective.”

Guitar hero

Born in Viet Nam, Quang emigrated to France in 1952, when he was eight years old. He now lives in Reunion Island, France and works as both an economist and a musician.

Quang started playing the guitar in 1957 to earn his living. That year, an American soldier gave him and his brother some rock records which sparked his love for this kind of music.

“I put on many concerts with my older brother in France, and performed at the famous Olympia Concert Hall along with Stevie Wonder for a whole week,” he said.

It was this attachment to American rock that also led to Quang’s eventual detachment from music in 1963.

“How can I play American rock when American B52s are bombing my native country?,” Quang said.

Quang continued to work as an economist and professor at the University of Reunion. He retired in 2006.

(Source: VNS)