Dance and music show celebrate President Ho Chi Minh’s birthday

Contemporary Con Mai Ban Hung Ca (The Legends Live On) will be staged at HCM City Opera House on May 19 to celebrate the 128th birthday of President Ho Chi Minh.- Photo courtesy of HBSO

The show will open with composer Nguyen Manh Duy Linh’s latest symphony Huyen Thoai Mua Xuan (Legend of the Spring), which will be performed by the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO).

Linh studied composing at Magnitogorsk State Conservatory in Russia from 2000 and graduated in 2008 with a Master of Arts degree.

In 2007, he won the Best Composer prize at the 4th International Festival of Music in Chelyabinsk in Russia for his concerto for violin and chamber orchestra.

Linh’s compositions have been performed by famous Vietnamese and foreign soloists like Bui Công Duy and Sergei Sivolgin.

He has also composed music for HBSO’s ballets, HCM City Television’s serials and a few movies.

In 2013, he won the Best Composer award at the Golden Kite Film Festival for his score for the movie Duong Dua (The Race).

He now works as a manager of the performing arts department and a stage manager at HBSO, and as a lecturer at the HCM City Conservatory of Music.

The show will continue with the ballet Con Mai Ban Hung Ca, which portrays soldiers and people in Southern Vietnam in the resistance war against the Americans.

The play was choreographed by People’s Artists Vu Viet Cuong and Kim Quy, and their students Phuc Hung and Phuc Hai. Its music was composed by Meritorious Artist Tran Vuong Thach

Cuong and Quy have made a great contributions to the development of HBSO and the country’s dance sector.

Hung and Hai have choreographed many contemporary ballets, such as Ru Dem (Night Lullaby), Cham Tay Vao Qua Khu (Touching the Past) and Nhung Manh Ghep Cua Giac Mo (Dream Puzzles). All have received high praise from critics and audiences.

The 60-minute ballet will feature HBSO’s dancers and orchestra.

The show will begin at 8pm at 7 Lam Sơn Square in District 1. Tickets are available at the venue and at www.ticketbox.vn.