ASEAN orchestra has talent from 15 countries

A new symphony orchestra, assembled from the best musical talents from around Southeast Asia, will perform three nights for the 17th ASEAN Summit in Vietnam (October 28-30).

Hanoi and HCMC will have one public concert each - in HCMC October 26 at the HCMC Conservatory of Music, 112 Nguyen Du Street, District 1 at 8 p.m., and in Hanoi Oct. 28 at the Hanoi Opera House, 1 Trang Tien Street, Hoan Kiem District at 8 p.m. The third concert at Vietnam National Convention Center in Hanoi on Oct 29 is only for summit participants.

 Music director and conductor of HCMC Conservatory Music Symphony Orchestra, Yoshikazu Fukumura, auditioned more than 80 classical musicians from 10 ASEAN countries and five countries outside the grouping. He said he would guarantee a superb performance.

The Academic Festival – Overture by Johannes Brahms will open the program, followed by Carmen Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra by Pablo Sarasate, featuring solo violist Anna Sowanna from Thailand, and Concertstuck for the Piano and Orchestra, Op.79 by C.M.V Weber, featuring solo pianist Nguyen Tuan Manh from Vietnam. The last piece on the program would be Symphony No.9 in E Minor “From the new world” by Antonin Dvorak.

Tickets are on sale for VND150,000 to VND250,000. For more information, contact the HCMC Conservatory of Music or the Hanoi Opera House.

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Mexican artists to grace Hanoi stage

The Mexican percussion quartet Tambuco

World-renowned Mexican percussion group Tambuco will join with local troupe “Phao Hoa” (Fireworks) to perform at the Vietnam National Academy of Music at 8 pm tonight.

This event aimed to promote mutual cultural exchange between the two nations.

Tambuco Percussion Ensemble has celebrated its acclaimed career after 15 years of international concerts, establishing itself among the finest percussion quartet today.

Tambuco -- founded in 1993 by four distinguished Mexican musicians Bringas Alfredo, Gonzales Miguel, Tudon Raul, and Gallard Ricardo -- is ranked among the finest and most innovative in the world.

"Highest artistic quality, a great sense of aesthetic sense and technical virtuosity beyond any doubt," The Washington Post of the US said.

The Fireworks, a pioneer in performing contemporary music in Vietnam, was founded in 2002 by Vietnam National Academy of Music’s lecturers and students including Doan Mai Huong, Vu Nguyen Anh, Mac Thang Long, and Le Bang.

The troupe was invited to perform at Cracking Bamboo international percussion festival in 2008 and 2010 in Hanoi, which was the encounter between South-East Asian and European music.

The entry will be free at 77 Hao Nam Street, Dong Da District, Hanoi.

Contest promotes ‘green' journalism

HA NOI — The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and international engineering firm Siemens last week signed an agreement under which VietnamPlus, VNA's online newspaper, will be a media sponsor for Siemens Green Technology Journalism Award 2010.

The award is intended to acknowledge journalists in the Southeast Asia region for excellence in reporting on energy efficiency, industrial productivity and sustainability issues in both print and online media.

"We are very pleased to receive strong co-operation and support from VietnamPlus for this important initiative," said Siemens Viet Nam president and CEO Erdal Elver. "Thanks to this agreement, information about this prestigious award will be able to reach the media community more widely and attract a more diverse pool of good candidates."

"Green technology and sustainable environment are important issues to the entire society, and VietnamPlus, as part of the Vietnam News Agency, is ready to be an active player to promote good reporting in this field and the quality of journalism in general," said VietnamPlus editor-in-chief Le Quoc Minh.

Submissions in the three award categories will be evaluated in English, so entries in other languages must be accompanied by an English translation. Winners will receive cash prizes as well as an opportunity to attend a seminar on sustainability and new technologies held by the Technical University of Berlin, and to visit Siemens' R&D and production centre in Germany.

Submission will be received until December 31, with more information about the award available at www.siemens.vn/SGTJA2010. — VNS

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Campaign promotes environmental practices

HA NOI — Hundreds of students and other volunteers joined in the Green City Tour campaign in Ha Noi, HCM City and Da Nang yesterday, aiming to promote public awareness of environmental protection.

The campaign, part of Toyota Viet Nam's Go Green Programme, was co-organised by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources' Department of the Environment Protection and the Ministry of Education and Training.

Volunteers cleaned streets and distributed stickers containing simple and practical messages of how to conserve energy and protect the environment in their daily lives. Many contain short messages, such as Remember to Tighten Me (to be pasted on water taps), Clean Before Using (to be pasted on microwave ovens and irons), and Turn off the Screen When Not in Use (to be pasted on TV screens and computer monitors).

The Green City Tour campaign will be held on weekends between now and March 2011, co-ordinating closely with local governments and groups such as the Women's Union and representatives of residential units and apartments. For further information, you can visit the website www.gogreen.com.vn. — VNS

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South Africa sex industry did not see World Cup boom

South Africa's sex business did not see any spike in activity during the soccer World Cup and the male patrons who participated in the trade practised safe sex, according to a survey obtained on Friday.

"There were not significantly more clients seen per sex worker during the World Cup period," said the survey from the South African Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Task Force that was conducted in conjunction with the UN Population Fund.

There were worries ahead of the June-to-July sports spectacle that it would lead to an increase in human trafficking and in the spreading of HIV because South Africa has one of the highest infection rates of the disease in the world.

The survey said there was little change in the average number of clients per week -- 14.4 on average -- for sex workers during the World Cup and reported condom use for males was at about 99 percent.

There were more foreign clients for the sex workers, but "this may mean that a part of the local clientele was temporarily replaced by foreign clients," it said.

There was massive condom distribution ahead of and during the Cup to prevent the spreading of HIV/AIDS.

The survey was conducted among 663 sex workers.

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New culture show to lure visitors to HCMC

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Artists rehearse an act of the "Xin Chao" in Ho Chi Minh City Circus on October 20, 2010

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Starting this December, locals and tourists will have a chance to experience a cultural show organized by the Xin Chao Art performance Co. Ltd, featuring cultural traits of Vietnam to attract tourists.

Entitled “Xin Chao” (Hello), the premier with 50 artists will kick off on December 3 and will continue every night at 6.30pm at the Ho Chi Minh City Circus Theater at September 23 Park in District 1. Sunday shows are meant for kids and family with discount fares.

There will be three parts featuring the tale of Lac Long Quan and his wife Au Co, who are believed to be the first ancestors of Vietnam, heroines Trung Sisters and the contemporary life in Vietnam.

“Xin Chao” is the same genre as Cirque du Soleil, a dramatic mix of circus arts and performances originated from Canada that has been widely spread to Japan and Macau.

The script is written by Laura Burke, an American producer and director who have been living, working and researching on Vietnamese culture and history over the last 8 years. She has also participated in different art activities such as her recent staging a traditional musical show called Ho Xuan Huong at HCMC’s Opera House.

For this new project, Laura expects to employ Binh Dinh martial art and Vietnamese traditional and cultural habits into the show to attract international audience.

This is also a chance for young artists in different fields like circus, martial arts, aerobat and dancing to show off their talents in a big stage for long term.

“There are many tourists coming to HCMC every year. However, they are only hanging around bar, cinema or restaurant because there is no entertainment place with Vietnamese culture,” said Augustus Greaves, representative of the show.

“Vietnam is a beautiful country with a rich culture. We need to exploit the cultural traits to attract tourists and they will spend more and have more reasons to stay in Vietnam.”

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Students win video news quest

HA NOI — A student competition to produce a video news clip has been won by a team from Phan Chu Trinh Secondary School in Ha Noi.

Panasonic Viet Nam yesterday awarded the first prize of the Kid Witness News (KWN) Viet Nam 2010 national contest for the video clip entitled The circles.

The story was about recycling through creative use of milk cans to make useful items.

Phan Chu Trinh Secondary School will represent Viet Nam in the Kids Witness News regional contest in Singapore in December this year. The global contest will be held in Japan in July next year.

The contest introduced a recycling topic in an attractive and figurative reporting style with "firm audio-visual effects", the judges said.

Panasonic believed the contest would encourage pupils to develop their video making abilities, said Panasonic Viet Nam general manager Shinichi Wakita.

Best Script was won by a team from Giang Vo Secondary School with a video clip entitled My Ha Noi; Best Anchor went to a Lomonosov Secondary School team with Advantage and Disadvantage; Best Editing: Ly Thuong Kiet Secondary School with The Soul of Viet Nam's Bamboo ; Most Original: Thuc Nghiem Secondary School with An Unforgettable Trip.

A Phan Chu Trinh School team member said that through the video clip they showed the daily life and that pupils could also help protect the environment by recycling so-called useless items into useful products. — VNS

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