US High School Choir and Phillips Exeter Academy orchestra to perform in Vietnam

Nhan Dan Online – Phillips Exeter Academy’s acclaimed concert choir and chamber orchestra will partner with musicians and vocalists from the Vietnam National Academy of Music and from the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music for concerts in Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City.

The classical Western music and Vietnamese folk song concerts are part of their 14-day ‘Peace and Innovation’ tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the normalisation of diplomatic relations between the US and Vietnam.

The 28-voice concert choir, under the direction of Kristofer Johnson, and the 24-person chamber orchestra, with conductors Peter Schultz and Rohan Smith, will perform American and European selections by Leonard Bernstein, John Philip Sousa, Scott Joplin, Dolly Parton, Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Francis Poulenc, Gabriel Fauré, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, Arcangelo Corelli and William Billings. Notably, they have also prepared two Vietnamese folk songs, Trong Com and Ly Keo Chai, arranged for the tour by Vietnamese musician and composer Vo Van Anh.

In Hanoi, the Phillips Exeter Academy’s Concert Choir and Chamber Orchestra will perform at the Hanoi Cheo Theatre on March 10. The concert will open with diverse modern American and European selections, followed by a performance from actors and musicians of the esteemed Hanoi Cheo Theatre, under the direction of artist Thanh Ngoan. Vietnamese and American artists will also join the stage with a cheo performance.

Also in Hanoi on March 11 at the Vietnam National Academy of Music, musicians from the Vietnam National Academy of Music’s Traditional Vietnamese Orchestra will open the concert with three traditional Vietnamese selections, followed by a diverse programme of European and American music by the Phillips Exeter Academy’s ensemble. The concert will end with joint performances by the Phillips Exeter Academy Concert Choir and ten singers from the Vietnam National Academy of Music performing three songs from Bernstein’s Candide and Trong Com.

American artists will also hold an evening collaborative concert with students from the Hue Academy of Music on March14, an outdoor concert sponsored by the Hoi An Center for Culture and Sports in Hoi An ancient town and two concerts with Ho Chi Minh City on March 18 and 19.

All concerts are free and open to the public. For tickets, contact the Vietnam National Academy of Music or the US Embassy in Hanoi.

Phillips Exeter Academy (www.exeter.edu) is a coeducational, independent school, located in Exeter, New Hampshire, USA. Founded in 1781 by John Phillips, Exeter has a tradition of academic excellence, a distinguished faculty, and a long history of educating young people to find their place in the world.

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