Young conductor Van Hung Cuong has taken time off from his busy career in the US to perform in HCM City this week.

Cuong will wield the baton as the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera performs Brahms’ “German Requiem”, a major work encompassing chorus, orchestra, and soloists.

The work, created in the 1860s, comprises seven movements and lasts 65 to 80 minutes, making it the German composer’s longest.

It will mark the first time it is being performed in the city.

Born in 1973 in the central province of Binh Dinh, Cuong spent years learning music at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory in Russia and the Cleveland Institute of Music in the US.

He studied conducting at the Shenandoah University in the US.

Cuong now works for the Northern Virginia Community College and performs with local and foreign symphony orchestras.

The show will continue with a ballet performance choreographed by artist Kim Quy.

“Carmen,” featuring the love story of a gypsy girl, will be performed by To Nhu, Hong Chau, Phuc Hai, Phi Diep, Duc Nhuan, and others.

The dancers studied ballet at leading schools in Russia, China and France.

The concert will begin at 8pm on December 9 at the HCM City Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square, District 1. Tickets, costing 100,000 VND to 200,000 VND, are available at the theatre./.