The Ascending Dragon Music Festival will kick off this week in Hanoi with musicians from the Grammy Award-winning Southwest Chamber Music orchestra and members of the Vietnam National Academy of Music (VNAM).

The Ascending Dragon Music Festival, a collaboration between musicians from the United States and Vietnam , has been organised to mark the 1,000 th anniversary of the founding of Thang Long-Hanoi capital.

During the six-week cultural exchange, 19 Americans will be visiting Vietnam in March, while 19 Vietnamese will tour California in April and May for three weeks.

Performances in Vietnam will take place at the Vietnam National Academy of Music, the Hanoi Opera House and the HCM City Conservatory Concert Hall.

World premieres of newly commissioned works by Alexandra du Bois, Kurt Rohde, Pham Minh Thanh and Vu Nhat Tan will be held on March 11.

The premier of American composer Ellicott Carter’s “On Conversing with Paradise ”, will be held on March 19. The famed musician is now 101 years old.

Works by Vietnamese veterans Nguyen Thien Dao and Ton That Thiet will also be performed on the day.

The VNAM will be holding additional performances this week at the Hanoi Opera House.

Works to be performed include Chopin’s “Piano Recital” on Mar. 12, with a guest appearance by Poland ’s Joanna Lawrynowicz.

On March 10 night, VNAM violinists Hoang Ho Khanh Van, Nguyen Thien Minh, Tran Quang Duy and pianists Do Hoang Linh Chi and Luu Duc Anh – all award-winning musicians – will be performing pieces by Mozart, Rossini and Bruch./.