Cua Bac Church will host a Christmas Concert and German Christmas market for the first time (Photo: nhathoconggiao.com) Hanoi (VNA) - The Hanoi GoetheInstitute will hold a series of activities for the Christmas season at Cua Bac Church in Hanoi.
They will begin on December 14.
The activities include a Chrismast Concert and German Christmas Market to markthe 20th anniversary of the Goethe Institute in Vietnam.
The concert will feature two pieces, Coronation Mass by Mozart andOrchestra Suite No3 by Bach, including his famous Air on the G String.
It will be performed by the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra with a choirfrom Vietnam National Opera and Ballet, Hanoi Catholic Youth Choir and foursoloists from Vietnam and Germany.
Soprano Ha Pham Thanh Long and baritone Vu Manh Dung are talented soloists withthe opera, while German mezzo soprano Claire Gascoin and tenor Florian Sieverswill debut in Vietnam.
"Some famous works of Mozart and Bach are composed for worship, but theyhave become part of human heritage," said Reverend Alphonsus Pham Hung,chaplain of International Catholics in Hanoi.
"This is the first time a Christmas Concert has been in a Catholic Churchin Hanoi. It is our joy that the Coronation Mass and the Orchestra Suite No3with carols will echo as Christmas is around the corner".
The Chirstmas Concert will begin at 8pm on December 21. Entry is by donation of 100,000 VND (about 5 USD).
German Christmas market in Nuernberg, one of the most renowned Christmasmarkets in the world, will be held in the grounds of Cua Bac Church, 56Phan Dinh Phung street.
About 13 booths will introduce craft products, including Christmas decorationsand traditional German food. Highlight of the market will be an eight-metrehigh tree decorated with lights.
Institute director Wilfried Eckstein said the 100-year-old Cua Bac Church withits clock tower and picturesque window was considered a perfect backdrop forthe market.
The market will open on December 14 and 15 from 2pm to 9pm and on December 16from 10am to 9pm.
Originally named as Church of Martyrs, the church was designed by Frencharchitect Ernest Hebrard and built in 1932. Cua Bac Church is one of the threemajor churches in Hanoi together with Ham Long Church and Saint JosephCathedral.
The church became the venue of joint worship service of Vietnamese Catholicsand Protestants with US President George W. Bush in November, 2006.-VNA
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