U.S., Singapore and Vietnam music artists to perform in town

Conductor Apo Hsu from the U.S.

Conductor Apo Hsu from the U.S. will direct the concert featuring masterpieces by Germany’s greatest composers Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms, including Symphony No. 5, Op.67 in C minor and Piano Concerto No. 1, Op.15 in D minor.

Symphony No. 5, Op.67 in C minor by Beethoven is popular among local audiences while Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 is quite new to most of them.

Beethoven composed Symphony No. 5 in 1808 when he was 37. This composition has four movements which bring audiences to four stages of desperation, tension, victory and celebration of the love of life.

Piano Concerto No. 1, Op.15 in D minor is one of the most voluminous concertos for piano and orchestra. It was premiered by Brahms in Hannover, Germany in 1853 after five years of composing and adjusting. Audiences are advised to pay attention to every elite detail of the work to feel the musician’s soul and mind, instead of the dazzlement of fierce and imposing beginning of the piece.

Maestra Apo Hsu began as orchestra director at the National Taiwan Normal University in 2003. Since 2000, Hsu has served as a guest faculty member at the Conductor’s Institute at Bard College in New York.

Singapore pianist Albert Tiu – Photo: courtesy of organizers

Maestra Hsu studied at the Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford, Connecticut for her Artist Diploma in Conducting and Master of Music in Double Bass. She served as music director and conductor of the Springfield Symphony in Missouri in 1995-2003, artistic director of the Women’s Philharmonic in San Francisco in 1997-2001 and music director and conductor of the Oregon Mozart Players in Eugene, Oregon in 1991-1997. She has performed in the U.S., Russia, Asia, South America and Australia.

The forthcoming show in HCMC will also feature Singapore pianist Albert Tiu, who is described as “an artist of uncommon abilities” by the American Record Guide. He is currently an associate professor of piano at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore.

He studied with Jerome Lowenthal at the Juilliard School, Michael Lewin at the Boston Conservatory, John Winther at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Nita Abrogar-Quinto at the University of the Philippines, and Nelly Castro in Cebu. In 1996, he won First Prize in the UNISA International Piano Competition in Pretoria.

He has appeared with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Hamburg Symphony, Finnish Radio Symphony, Gstaad Festival Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Winnipeg Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Cape Town Philharmonic and Philippine Philharmonic.

Standard and VIP tickets are priced at VND250,000 and VND300,000 respectively. Especially, guests who buy one ticket of the show will receive a free ticket to the Yale Alumni Chorus’ performance on Thursday, June 23. For further information, call 0903 034 112 or email: giaohuongsaigon@gmail.com.

The event will take place at the Concert Hall of the HCMC Conservatory of Music at 112 Nguyen Du Street in HCMC’s District 1.