Charity Christmas Concert to charm Hanoians

An International Charity Christmas Concert will be held at Au Co Theater in Hanoi on December 9.

Music lovers will have a chance to enjoy performances of classical to modern music, from solo to a choir by local artists and foreign musicians from Africa and Korea, which will include Trang Trinh, Park Sung Min, The Shin Trio, Ella Walls, and The African Band.

All proceeds from ticket sales and silent auction will go to support the construction of a house for disabled and disadvantaged children in Phu Chau Commune of Ba Vi District in Hanoi.

Trang Trinh is one of Vietnam’s most interesting classical performers. Trained in London at the Royal Academy of Music, Trang has an international career with concerts in Europe and Asia.

Park Sung Min, husband of Trang, is a professional tenor and has performed widely in Russia, Europe and Asia. He is the conductor of the Hanoi Korean Church Choir and founder of the Miracle Choir, made up of children from various children’s homes in Hanoi.

The Shin Trio, Father Joshua and daughters Mary and Joy have a passion for excellence and desire to provide musical enjoyment for the homeless. Joshua holds a Doctorate of Music in Piano Pedagogy.

Ella Walls has performed in musical theater shows and has been part of a contemporary music ministry in Australia before coming to Hanoi. One of our own worship leaders, Ella impressed the audience and officials at our Easter concert last spring.

The African Band will use various African music styles to give a great Christmas performance. The group has been hosted at embassy parties and other international events in Hanoi.

Another music show marking the upcoming Christmas season will take place at Lan Anh Music Avenue in Ho Chi Minh City on December 14.

Popular singers and bands, such as Hong Ngoc, Phan Dinh Tung, Thu Thuy, Minh Hang, Nam Cuong, VMusic and ‘The Voice 2013’ contestants will join the event.

German percussionist performs in Hanoi New Music Festival

German percussionist Burkhard Beins has traveled to Hanoi for performances from December 5-8.

The German artist presented a solo percussion piece at the Youth Theater on December 5. He will perform electro-acoustic music on December 7 at Tadioto Bar and be onstage together with musicians from around the world in the ‘Being Together’ performance at the Youth Theater on December 8.

Born in 1964 in Lower Saxony, Burkhard Beins has lived in Berlin since 1995. He is well-known for his use of percussion in combination with selected objects and works with electronics, electro-acoustic instruments and devices. Burkhard Beins is performing at festivals all around the world since the late 1980s.

His performance is part of the Hanoi New Music Festival 2013 which is on in Hanoi from November 30-December 8.

More than 50 outstanding international and national musicians from countries like UK, Germany, Italy, France and Scandinavia have performed in more than seven stages, showing their skills to the public, including DomDom the Hub for Experimental Music & Art, Youth Theater, Tadioto Bar, Nhasan Collective and L’Espace.

The Hanoi New Music Festival presents five new commissioned compositions by local musicians/ artists/ choreographers among others SonX, Vu Nhat Tan, Nguyen Manh Hung, Nguyen Duc Minh, Pham Thi Hue, Nguyen Anh Duc; as well as outstanding international and national productions including Go To Hell by The Six Tones, What Makes The Spider Spin Her Web by Kim Ngoc, Phonotope by Rolf Wallin, Thanh Giong by Ton That Tiet.

The festival gathers renowned musicians, improvisers and groups like The Six Tones, SISU, Hanoi Ensemble, Camusi, Lotte Anker, Stefan Östersjö, Kim Ngoc, Henrik Frisk, Thank Thuy, Jakob Riis, Burkhard Beins, Tri Minh, Tra My, Terje Thiwång and many more.

On top of the 8-day program, festival goers have a rare chance to see excellent interactive music productions, improvisations, music installations and music theatre in the city of Hanoi. In addition to the presentation of electro-acoustic music, a range of contemporary chamber music is an integral component of the festival.

The festival’s vast experimental music shows are supplemented by an extensive cultural program of performances and screenings.

Under the title ‘The Blind Spot’ the festival aims not only to change the ‘invisibility’ of contemporary music in the local scene--filling the gaps in knowledge, but also to generate synergetic effects to strengthen musical infrastructure between Vietnam and the worldwide contemporary music scene.

Vung Tau hosts national kite flying competition

Vietnam’s second national kite flying competition is unfolding at the southern coastal city of Vung Tau’s Bien Dong (East Sea) Resort on December 7–8.

This year’s contest has attracted nearly 130 artisans representing 19 kite clubs from Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Hue, Nam Dinh, Quang Nam, Haiphong, and Dong Nai.

The competition’s six categories are single string single kite, single string multiple kite, controlled kite, international Rokkaku kite, flute kite, and team kite flying.

The kites flying over Vung Tau beach created a picturesque celebration honouring the kite making art and its unique place in Vietnamese folk culture.

Vung Tau City is also using the competition to advertise local tourism attractions to both domestic and foreign visitors.

The winners of the competition will represent Vietnam at the 2014 International Kite Competition Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province is scheduled to host next April.

‘Taste of the World’ culinary festival attracts many tourists

About 60 restaurants, hotels, tourist agencies from 20 countries and territories participated in the ‘Taste of the World’ culinary festival that took place at the September 23 Park on December 6.

This annual event is organized by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Tourism Association in Ho Chi Minh City with the aim to introduce and honor the best chefs and cuisines of the world, besides also honoring the culinary culture of Vietnam.

Coming to the festival, visitors can taste a lot of traditional delicious foods from South Vietnam and foreign foods from Thailand, France, Korea, Malaysia, and Germany.

Ta Thi Quynh Tram, a student of University of Pedagogy in Ho Chi Minh City said that she visited the festival at September 23 Park early to taste the many good foods. She said many food booths were decorated beautifully and attractively.

Besides, many attractive activities were also held at the festival, including dancing performances by dancers from Malaysia, and display of sculptures made from fruits and vegetables.

VND90,058 billion for excavation of Ho Dynasty Citadel

The People’s Committee of the central province of Thanh Hoa has approved a project to research and excavate the Ho Dynasty Citadel site, at a cost of around VND90,058 billion from now until 2020.

The Center for Preservation of Ho Dynasty Citadel Heritage will be the main investor to research the relics covering an area of about 56,000 square meters.

The excavation will reveal material and cultural vestige of Ho Dynasty Citadel which was buried underground for hundreds of years; raise the heritage site value, promote tourism, and provide historical documentation for historical and educational purposes.

The Ho Dynasty Citadel (also known as the Tay Do, the An Ton, the Tay Kinh or the Tay Giai citadel) was the capital of Dai Ngu (the country name of Vietnam during the Ho Dynasty) from 1397 to 1407.

It was built by Ho Quy Ly in 1397 in only three months, in Vinh Tien and Vinh Long Communes of Vinh Loc District in Thanh Hoa Province. The citadel includes palaces, bamboo screen hedges and a moat built with huge stone slabs, still in good state despite weathering for 600 years.

The Citadel also has altars, marble-paved roads connecting different palaces, ancient villages and mountainous river scenery that have been relatively well preserved.

Ho Dynasty Citadel is under the management of Thanh Hoa Relics and Landscape Management Board. The relics of the Ho citadel have been classified as National relics since 28 April 1962.

UNESCO has recognized the Ho Dynasty Citadel in the central province of Thanh Hoa as a World Cultural Heritage Site in an official announcement made at the 35th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris in June 2011.