Saigon Times Concert 2011

Harmony of Trust

Soprano Rumi Yano

This singing masters graduate from Nagoya Conservatory of Music is a favorite solo and opera vocalist of radio and television audiences in Japan. Yano’s performances have been well received in China, Korea, the U.S., Canada, Italy and France. In addition to classical music, the artist is working on contemporary Japanese music projects.

Violinist Mira Khomik

Mira Khomik began violin training in Ukraine at the age of four, and then honed her performance skills under instruction of professors at the Moscow Conservatory of Music. At the age of 16, Khomik was invited to be a soloist with the L’viv Philharmonic Orchestra in Ukraine. A graduate from L’viv National Krushelnytska School of Music in Ukraine and the Chapman Conservatory of the Arts in the U.S., she has brought home various awards from music competitions in Ukraine, Romania and the U.S. She is now completing a master’s in music at California State University in Fullerton.

Conductor Dean Khomik Anderson

Dean Khomik Anderson is among the rising stars conducting in the U.S. The American-Filipino conductor has performed with such great artists as Smokey Robinson, John Tesh, Arlo Guthrie, Manhattan Transfer, Bobby McFerrin, Lincoln Mayorga and Jimmy Hopper. He lives and works in Southern California, where he conducts the Montage Civic Orchestra, the Fullerton College Symphony, and the Irvine Young Concert Artists. He has also appeared as a guest conductor of orchestras in Hong Kong, Italy and Brazil.

Pipa Maestro Tu Shan Xiang

Tu Shan Xiang graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and completed his postgraduate studies in vocal music at the Tokyo University of Arts. The maestro has joined more than 1,900 shows and tours around the world, including at Carnegie Hall in New York and overseas tours with the famous Japanese composer Kitaro. He has won a host of music prizes in Japan and China.

Tu Shan Xiang has released a number of DVDs and CDs, including the best-selling “Fantasy of BaiDi” album in China. In 2010, he made performance tours in the U.S., Europe and Asia to mark his 40 years of devotion to the performing arts.

Tu Shan Xiang surprised and impressed the audience of the Saigon Times Concert Harmony of Trust in January 2010 which was his first Vietnam performance.

The HCMC Ballet Symphony Orchestra

The orchestra brings together many artists who have studied at home and aboard. These artists of different generations harmonize in local and international performances of classical masterpieces as well as contemporary Vietnamese and international works.

PROGRAM "Vietnam Sketch in the New World"

PART I

Vang Son

Composer: Vu Viet Anh

Performers: The HCMC Ballet Symphony Orchestra

Conductor: Dean Khomik Anderson

The first movement of this three-movement symphony depicts the culture of Vietnam’s unique village tradition in a picturesque landscape. The music evokes moonlight reflections on a country river, resounding market days, village festivals, and the solemn ambience of royal palaces in the past.

Hamabe no Uta (Song of the Seashore)

Music by Tamezo Narita, lyrics by Kokei Hayashi

Soprano: Rumi Yano

Pipa: Tu Shan Xiang

Pianist: Ly Giai Hoa

Created in 1916, this work, typical of Japan, evokes the emotion of standing in awe of nature before the sea. The beauty of nature moves people and brings back their memories of the past.

O Sole Mio

Composer: Eduardo di Capua

Soprano: Rumi Yano

The famous Italian folk song embodies Habanera rhythm and resounds in festive seasons. Yano performs this ballad to relay the hope in the message “East Meets West”   on Thursday’s world

Passacaglia & Burleske Movements

(From Violin Concerto No. 1)

Composer: Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovick

Violinist: Mira Khomik

The masterpiece mirrors the composer’s journey of art and his feelings during the ups and downs of the Ukrainian history. This composition tells a long story full of sad memories and high hopes on the way to perfection.

Vietnam Sketch

Composer and performer: Tu Shan Xiang

The pipa maestro returns to Vietnam with his work Vietnam Sketch which he wrote following his first visit to the country. This piece was inspired by his impressions when he saw “seas of motorbikes,” Cham dancers, marvelous historical sites and the people’s deep human attachment to their homeland.

The artist received standing ovations during his tours of Finland, France, Italy, Canada, Japan, Korea and China celebrating his 40 years of performing.

PART II

From the New World

Composer: Antonin Dvorak

Performers: The HCMC Symphony Orchestra

Conductor: Dean Khomik Anderson 

The masterpiece written during a visit to the U.S. is characterized by cultural and racial diversity and has been welcomed all over the world thanks to its beautiful melodies embracing love and peace.

Csardas

Composer: V. Monti

Violonist : Mira Khomik

Pipa: Tu Shan Xiang

Conductor: Dean Khomik Anderson with the HCMC Ballet Symphony Orchestra

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Saigon Times Concert 2011

Harmony of Trust

Soprano Rumi Yano

This singing masters graduate from Nagoya Conservatory of Music is a favorite solo and opera vocalist of radio and television audiences in Japan. Yano’s performances have been well received in China, Korea, the U.S., Canada, Italy and France. In addition to classical music, the artist is working on contemporary Japanese music projects.

Violinist Mira Khomik

Mira Khomik began violin training in Ukraine at the age of four, and then honed her performance skills under instruction of professors at the Moscow Conservatory of Music. At the age of 16, Khomik was invited to be a soloist with the L’viv Philharmonic Orchestra in Ukraine. A graduate from L’viv National Krushelnytska School of Music in Ukraine and the Chapman Conservatory of the Arts in the U.S., she has brought home various awards from music competitions in Ukraine, Romania and the U.S. She is now completing a master’s in music at California State University in Fullerton.

Conductor Dean Khomik Anderson

Dean Khomik Anderson is among the rising stars conducting in the U.S. The American-Filipino conductor has performed with such great artists as Smokey Robinson, John Tesh, Arlo Guthrie, Manhattan Transfer, Bobby McFerrin, Lincoln Mayorga and Jimmy Hopper. He lives and works in Southern California, where he conducts the Montage Civic Orchestra, the Fullerton College Symphony, and the Irvine Young Concert Artists. He has also appeared as a guest conductor of orchestras in Hong Kong, Italy and Brazil.

Pipa Maestro Tu Shan Xiang

Tu Shan Xiang graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and completed his postgraduate studies in vocal music at the Tokyo University of Arts. The maestro has joined more than 1,900 shows and tours around the world, including at Carnegie Hall in New York and overseas tours with the famous Japanese composer Kitaro. He has won a host of music prizes in Japan and China.

Tu Shan Xiang has released a number of DVDs and CDs, including the best-selling “Fantasy of BaiDi” album in China. In 2010, he made performance tours in the U.S., Europe and Asia to mark his 40 years of devotion to the performing arts.

Tu Shan Xiang surprised and impressed the audience of the Saigon Times Concert Harmony of Trust in January 2010 which was his first Vietnam performance.

The HCMC Ballet Symphony Orchestra

The orchestra brings together many artists who have studied at home and aboard. These artists of different generations harmonize in local and international performances of classical masterpieces as well as contemporary Vietnamese and international works.

PROGRAM "Vietnam Sketch in the New World"

PART I

Vang Son

Composer: Vu Viet Anh

Performers: The HCMC Ballet Symphony Orchestra

Conductor: Dean Khomik Anderson

The first movement of this three-movement symphony depicts the culture of Vietnam’s unique village tradition in a picturesque landscape. The music evokes moonlight reflections on a country river, resounding market days, village festivals, and the solemn ambience of royal palaces in the past.

Hamabe no Uta (Song of the Seashore)

Music by Tamezo Narita, lyrics by Kokei Hayashi

Soprano: Rumi Yano

Pipa: Tu Shan Xiang

Pianist: Ly Giai Hoa

Created in 1916, this work, typical of Japan, evokes the emotion of standing in awe of nature before the sea. The beauty of nature moves people and brings back their memories of the past.

O Sole Mio

Composer: Eduardo di Capua

Soprano: Rumi Yano

The famous Italian folk song embodies Habanera rhythm and resounds in festive seasons. Yano performs this ballad to relay the hope in the message “East Meets West”   on Thursday’s world

Passacaglia & Burleske Movements

(From Violin Concerto No. 1)

Composer: Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovick

Violinist: Mira Khomik

The masterpiece mirrors the composer’s journey of art and his feelings during the ups and downs of the Ukrainian history. This composition tells a long story full of sad memories and high hopes on the way to perfection.

Vietnam Sketch

Composer and performer: Tu Shan Xiang

The pipa maestro returns to Vietnam with his work Vietnam Sketch which he wrote following his first visit to the country. This piece was inspired by his impressions when he saw “seas of motorbikes,” Cham dancers, marvelous historical sites and the people’s deep human attachment to their homeland.

The artist received standing ovations during his tours of Finland, France, Italy, Canada, Japan, Korea and China celebrating his 40 years of performing.

PART II

From the New World

Composer: Antonin Dvorak

Performers: The HCMC Symphony Orchestra

Conductor: Dean Khomik Anderson 

The masterpiece written during a visit to the U.S. is characterized by cultural and racial diversity and has been welcomed all over the world thanks to its beautiful melodies embracing love and peace.

Csardas

Composer: V. Monti

Violonist : Mira Khomik

Pipa: Tu Shan Xiang

Conductor: Dean Khomik Anderson with the HCMC Ballet Symphony Orchestra

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Year-end pop albums make their appearance

HCM CITY – Many top singers are scrambling to release their traditional year-end album to mark the festive season and are receiving a warm welcome from fans.

Pop star Phuong Thanh released a solo album on Sunday, her first of the year, titled Nao Ai Co Biet (Nobody Knows). It has 10 romantic songs, all written by well-known composer Duc Tri.

"The album marks 10 years of collaboration between Tri and me," Thanh says.

The singer, who uses her melancholic voice to full effect, often sings about love and loneliness to strike a chord in listeners. She has never received professional training but managed to make her "God-gifted voice" unique.

"I try to immerse myself in the song to infuse them with feeling and spirit," she explains.

Her album was followed by Duc Tuan's Bay Gio… Bien Mua Dong (Now… Sea in Winter).

Tuan sings 10 romantic singles written by celebrated composer Duong Thu, the highlight being Xa Xam (Far Away) and O Lai Mua Dong (Stay with Winter).

Tuan is one of the few Vietnamese stars to sing classical and semi-classical music, not a popular genre among the youth.

"The album is my Christmas gift to fans," he says.

Last year he had won the Singer of the Year and Album of the Year awards at the prestigious annual Music Contribution Prize for his Music of the Night album in English and French.

Last week MV Productions released Cao Got (High Heels), an album featuring 15 songs starring well-known models and movie stars like Trang Nhung, Thao Nhi, and Truc Diem.

Pop star My Le resorts to classical music for the first time in her latest album My Le in Symphony also released last week. Le's delicate style has won her acclaim among both young and older listeners.

Co Nhung Giac Mo (There're Dreams) released two weeks ago by upcoming singer Giang Hong Ngoc has also been well received.

"Ngoc's album Ruby 20 released last year has many sad songs," Tran Mai Dao, a fan of hers, says.

She says she prefers There're Dreams because of its several youthful melodies like Thien Duong Tinh Yeu (Paradise of Love) and Het Roi (It's Over)."

Albums by other pop singers like Pham Thanh Thao, Khanh Doan and Oversea Vietnamese Kannan Nguyen are nearing completion.

"We won't be worried about what music to hear during the festive season," a first-year student at the HCM City Open University says cheerfully. – VNS

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Finnish artist fashions playful works in metal

Steely: Works by Maritta Nurmi at the exhibition.

HA NOI — A playful exhibition by Finnish artist Maritta Nurmi entitled After the End of Art Anything Goes, has opened at Art Viet Nam Gallery in Ha Noi.

Nurmi, a visual artist born in Finland, has been based in Ha Noi since 1994 and is well-known for her installation art. Nurmi's background both in art and in natural sciences, together with her experience of Asia, lends her work a multilayered and multicultural feel.

The artist is famed for her richly detailed work in silver, aluminium and copper leaf on canvas. In this playful exhibition, that combines art and fashion, she has managed to add text to textile to accentuate her works' effervescent surfaces.

Freed from the constraints of making art as it is currently known, Nurmi explores all sorts of media and objects, elevating the everyday and mundane into what we may call the zone of the sublime.

Large round aluminium trays used for steaming rice are suddenly transformed into whirlpools of flora and line; small wooden stools, playfully patterned, spring from the floor to the wall, while their corresponding tea tables are transformed into colourful, functional artworks.

Stainless steel work tables are essays in structure and line; dragons and Buddhas appear faintly in their mirrored surfaces, transporting the object and the viewer into a fanciful world.

Nurmi uses images of roses and repeats them many times in her artworks. "Rose means everything," she explains. "I love roses and I think people do."

In the midst of all the playfulness, Nurmi takes her ideas into yet another dimension. Inspired by the colourful textiles of the people of Benin, in West Africa, where she was an artist in residence in 2009, she had fabrics of her artworks made in India, which she then transformed into her own eclectic mode of fashion – Couture Adorable de Maritta.

Stripes and circles, angles and lines, colour and pattern all collide into a splendid kaleidoscope of fun and frolic, a true testimony to the function of art as art and art as function wherein "anything goes."

"Nurmi's artworks really surprise and attract me," says Pham Trung, lecturer at the Viet Nam Fine Arts University.

"She is an artist of liberalism. She breaks all old orders to create the art of her own. However, she is influenced by Eastern philosophy and Zen Buddhism. She stands at the border of many cultures."

Nurmi has exhibited her works in many countries including Finland, Germany, the UK, the US, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

The exhibition will run until January 7 at Art Viet Nam Gallery, 7 Nguyen Khac Nhu Street, Ha Noi. — VNS

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Culture Vulture

Tai tu music inherits thousands of years of Vietnamese traditional music

Prof Dr Nguyen Thuyet Phong is an ethnomusicologist who was honoured by the US government as a National Heritage Fellow in 2007 and one of two Vietnamese listed in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians alongside Prof Dr Tran Van Khe. Phong talked about the possibility of tai tu music being recognised as an Intangible World Cultural Heritage by the UN.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has tasked the Vietnamese Institute of Music and its departments in HCM City and other southern provinces to develop a thorough profile for tai tu music. This would be submitted to the United Nations' Education, Science and Culture Organisation (UNESCO) which would consider the music as an Intangible World Cultural Heritage status. What role do you have in the project?

It was my pleasure to be invited by Culture Minister Hoang Tuan Anh to work on the project. What part I will play depends on the assignments of the Vietnamese Institute of Music and the HCM City's Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

In my opinion, the road ahead is still very challenging. The art form has lost most of its luster to cai luong (reformed theatre), while its performances are much influenced by tan co giao duyen (a mixture of elements of traditional and pop music).

Tai tu music is traditionally performed in visiting rooms. Its standard orchestra includes a dan tranh (16-string zither), a dan kim (two-chord guitar), a dan co (two-chord fiddle), a ty ba (pear-shaped four-chord guitar), a doc huyen (monochord zither) and a flute.

Performing tai tu music on a big stage as pop and rock music groups do, or like performances during tourism festivals, is not true to its nature.

We should take into account its chamber concert nature when we are striving to restore the art form to its original form in terms of instrumentalists, singers, repertoire, style of singing and instruments, among others.

The most noteworthy surviving tai tu music figures in HCM City include musicians Vinh Bao and Ba Tu who are quite old now and some other musicians. Also, there are artists we don't know about, but we still are trying to find out who they are.

Even though tai tu music today has a much bigger audience, we still need to restore its chamber space that can accommodate small audiences.

Compared to other kinds of traditional Vietnamese music, tai tu music has a much shorter history. Will it pose any hurdle for UNESCO's recognition?

In my opinion, UNESCO recognition is not based on the history of the art form, but on its quality and musical system. In this respect, we can see tai tu music as unique in that it synthesises traditional music of the north, centre and south of the country over thousands of years.

So it has an extraordinary power. Its performance adheres to strict specific rules. Its theory, which has been handed down by generations through word of mouth, draws on many traditions of the past.

Once the art form is restored, we should commit to conserving it.

What do you have to say about the get-together of ethno-musicologists from over the world during a recent conference of the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) in Ha Noi city and Quang Ninh Province?

It was a good opportunity for us to advertise our traditional music and learn from international experts in studying and conserving traditional music. It's noteworthy that the ICTM is also advising UNESCO on appraising intangible heritage profiles.

With 54 ethnic groups, Viet Nam is of great interest and inspiration to the world's ethnomusicologists. Some presentations at the conference deal with subject matter like ethnic groups' music and youth, ethnomusicological applications in education, sociology and the mass media. — VNS

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Denmark supports fine arts education in Viet Nam

HA NOI — Denmark will grant US$700,000 to fund the second stage of a fine arts education in Viet Nam's primary schools during 2011-15, under an agreement signed on Tuesday between the Danish embassy and Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training.

Building upon the success of the first stage of project during 2006-10, the project would contribute to promoting comprehensive education for Vietnamese school children and encouraging new teaching methods in the arts, said Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan at the signing ceremony.

President Ho's palm leaf testament recognised

HA NOI — The testament of President Ho Chi Minh written on palm leaf will be among 30 new Guinness Records for Viet Nam.

The Centre for Viet Nam Guinness Records says the unique display at the Thoai Son District's Cultural and Tourism Complex, southern province of An Giang, will be included in the new listings to be announced on Saturday

Almost 20 of the new listings are for art and culture.

They include musicologist Tran Quang Hai, who is able to create melodies with spoons. The "King of Spoon" plays jazz, pop, techno and flamenco.

Nguyen Vinh Bao, 92, will be recognised as "The Oldest Musician Who Offers the On-line Course on Vietnamese Traditional Music."

The 118-year-old Tran Thi Viet of southern Long An province of Long An will be recognised as "The Oldest Vietnamese Heroic Mother."

Men fail to make up numbers in quan ho love songs

HA NOI — The number of women singing quan ho (love duets) far exceeds the number of men, according to statistics from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism in the northern province of Bac Ninh.

Female singers make up 81 per cent of the over 8,000 members of the 598 quan ho clubs in the province, they said.

Quan ho singing is a Vietnamese folk music characterised by its antiphonal nature – with alternating groups of female and male singers issuing musical challenges and responses – and by the fact that most of the songs in the repertoire deal with topics of love and sentimentality as experienced by young adults. The artform was recognised by UNESCO in 2009 as Intangible Cultural Heritage, while Vietnamese authorities are trying various methods to popularise it and train new singers – as well as attract more men to join in.

Writers Association awards prize for historical novel

HA NOI — The novel Hoi The (Oath-Taking Ceremony) by Nguyen Quang Than has been granted the top prize in the Novel Competition of the Viet Nam Writers Association.

The novel reflects the Lam Son uprising against the Chinese domination in the early 15th century which established Le Loi as the first king of the Le dynasty.

The competition, held for the third time, received entries from 245 writers during 2006-09.

The Viet Nam Publishers Association has also granted annual awards since 2005 for books with good design, recognising 77 titles this year. The awards presentation ceremony will take place on Sunday at the Ho Chi Minh Museum in Ha Noi. — VNS

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Vietnam to introduce 30 new records at weekend

Two brothers Bui Ngoc Vinh and Bui Ngoc Khanh in Hue set up Vietnam record by eating chilli

Photo: Tuoi Tre

President Ho Chi Minh’s will, the oldest professor, an unconventional musician and other items will be honored as records on December 18 in Ho Chi Minh City’s Rex Hotel.

Half of the records fall to art and culture categories including President Ho Chi Minh’s will written on the biggest palm leaf (1.8 meter in width, 2.05 meter in height) in An Giang and the oldest professor (92 years old) teaching music online.

Professor, Doctor Tran Quang Hai with his skills of playing spoons to produce different sounds of jazz, pop, techno, flamenco will be honored with the title: “man who can play multiple rhythms and sounds with spoons”.

Vietnam records this year also award members of the same family.

Two brothers Bui Ngoc Vinh and Bui Ngoc Khanh in Hue go into national records as each can eat a kilo of chili within 10 minutes.

Ca Mau locals Hua Van Bach and his son Hua Tay Ha will be awarded for their ability to float upon water for hours without having to move a limb. Last June, Bach played guitar and Ha sang while they were floating upon a river for 4 hours. The performance has amazed numerous spectators.

The event this Sunday is a chance for record holders around the country to meet and show off their talents to the public.

Hua Van Bach (L) and his son Hua Tay Ha are singing a song while floating on river water (Photo: VnExpress)

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