Christmas concert to be staged in Ho Chi Minh City

Illustrative image (Photo: Internet)

Hanoi (VNA) – A Christmas concert will be held at Saigon Opera House from December 16-17, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) on December 12.

Vietnamese artists Pham Khanh Ngoc, Dao Mac and Duyen Nguyet will perform with the HBSO’s symphony orchestra and choir and the children's choir from the Republic of Korea under the baton of conductor Tran Nhat Minh who was trained in both Russia and Italy and is the chorus master of the HBSO.

The Christmas concert is set to begin with a popular orchestra piece called Christmas Festival by Leroy Anderson, an American composer of light music who lived from 1908 to 1975.

Following this will be two pieces, including Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate featuring Pham Khanh Ngoc, a female vocalist who has won a number of international vocal prizes. A chorus from Handel’s Messiah, For Unto Us a Child is Born, will then be played.

German Christmas song Maria Wiegenlied by Max Reger will then be performed by soprano soloist Duyen Nguyet.

A Christmas Scherzo by American arranger and keyboard player Don Sebesky and O Holy Night will then be played by Dao Mac, a baritone who plays many roles in HBSO operas, from Papageno in The Magic Flute to Doctor Falk in Die Fledermaus.

Conductor Tran Nhat Minh (Photo: Internet)

The solo orchestra will return with Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride, before leading into Variations on Jingle Bells led by the HBSO chorus.

Most notably, a group of Korean children residing in Ho Chi Minh City will then bring to the stage a performance Santa Claus is Coming to Town, as well as singing festive songs from the movie Home Alone./.