Ambassador Franz Jessen, head of the Delegation of the European Union in Vietnam, made the remark at a press conference held in Hanoi this morning.
“The event also aims to foster mutual understanding between the Europe and Vietnam, and facilitate interaction between cultural institutions and artists”, he said.
The festival’s 12th edition is scheduled to run from November 22 to December 1 at the Youth Theatre in Hanoi (No.11 Ngo Thi Nham Street) and the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music (No.112 Nguyen Du Street).
Vietnamese audiences will have an opportunity to enjoy 14 performances by artists from Austria, Wallonie-Bruxelles (Belgium), Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Sweden. European and Vietnamese musicians will play together during ten of the performances.
A Vietnamese band named Diva Club will perform at the event for the first time as a guest band. The participation of Diva Club is expected to provide the festival’s audiences with a wonderful feeling when the Past is connected to the Present and East meets West on the same stage.
The first concert will delight audiences with a performance by German guitarists, the Katona Twins. Peter and Zoltan Katona are twin brothers whose virtuoso guitar music has won great international acclaim.
The brothers announced that they will play works by Isaac Albeniz, Johann Sebastian Bach and Manuel de Fallas, and will present a performance of pieces by Astor Piazzolla alongside musicians from the Hanoi Philharmonic Orchestra in Hanoi and the Conservatory in Ho Chi Minh City.
“We will offer an ‘Open Lesson’ for students at the National Music Academy in Hanoi”, they said.
The festival continues with performances by Austrian musician Harri Stojka and his band, saxophonist Fabrice Alleman from Wallonie-Bruxelles and Poland’s Grzegorz Karnas Quartet that will entertain audiences with passionate and sophisticated jazz melodies.
Almuth Meyer-Zollitsch, director of the Hanoi Goethe Institute, said: “We hope that the festival will create a platform for both Vietnamese and international artists to exchange experiences with this kind of music”.
Free tickets can be collected at the Goethe Institute in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from November 19.
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A performance by German guitarists, the Katona Twins at the press conference
