The piece is a commissioned work by composer Vu Nhat Tan under a project funded by the Goethe Institute in Hanoi.

The project aims to promote new music development and Vietnamese and international composer exchanges.

“I used the sounds of Hanoi to compose the piece,” said Tan at a press conference held recently in Hanoi.

“It combines the richness of sound and space of the city. Hanoise will be performed by traditional western and Vietnamese instruments”.

Tan is one of the leading composers of his generation. He is a member of the American Composer Forum and his works have debuted at music festivals in many countries including France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and the US.

He has won many awards including first prize at Saint-German en Layer in France in 1995.

“Acknowledging the new music wealth and the variety of musical paths, the Goethe-Institute promotes concerts that break new ground in terms of sound aesthetics,” said the institute's director, Wilfried Eckstein.

“We also look at the beginnings of new music in Europe and we promote innovation in Vietnam.”

Hanoise will feature Hanoi New Music Ensemble with soloists cellist Lucas Fels; clarinetist Nina Janssen Deinzer; đàn bầu (monochord) artist Ngo Tra My and đàn tranh (zither) Pham Tra My.

“It is an honour for me to perform in Vietnam,” said Fels. “Performing abroad gives me international performing experience. I don't think we'll have a problem rehearsing Hanoise with musicians from Hanoi New Music Ensemble even though this is the first time we've met and performed together.”

Fels has made 100 CDs of solo and chamber music from the 20th and 21st centuries. He has also been a professor at the Music and Performing Arts College Frankfurt for interpretative arts and communicating new music since 2013.

Clarinet Deinzer has won awards at the Jugend Musiziert competition and at the International Chamber Music Competition in Osaka, Japan.

German clarinet will perform with the Hanoi New Music Ensemble in Hanoi and HCM City. Photo ultraschallberlin.de

She has played at various festivals and with orchestras like Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrucken and Ensemble Modern Orchestra. She is currently a professor at the Music College Nuremburg.

The musicians will play two pieces by Jorg Widmann and Olivier Messiaen. Germany's Wildmann composed Fever Fantasy in 1999 with his research of melodies by Schumann.

France's Messiaen’s Quartet for The End of Time will be premiered in Vietnam. The piece deals with motives for the apocalypse.

Japanese conductor Tetsuji Honna will lead the concert. He was Music Advisor and conductor at Vietnam National Symphony and Orchestra from 2001-2009.

The concert will begin at 8pm at Hanoi’s Vietnam National Academy of Music, 77 Hao Nam Street on Friday and at the HCM City Conservatory, 112 Nguyen Du, District 1 on Saturday. Entrance is free.

VNS