The Vietnam Youth Music Institute (VYMI) and the Hoan Kiem District People’s Committee are thrilled to be jointly organizing the “VYO Community Concert 2023” on May 28th at 9:30 am. The concert will take place at the Center for Arts and Culture, located at No. 22 Hang Buom Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi. This charity event promises to be a memorable and enjoyable experience for all who attend.
The concert aims to help underprivileged children in Vietnam. Photo: Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation |
The concert aims to raise VND300,000,000 (US$13,000), equivalent to 50 scholarships that will enable 50 disadvantaged children to attend school.
The fundraising campaign is being coordinated by the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation (Blue Dragon), a Hanoi-based non-profit organization. They are dedicated to providing aid and assistance to children affected by poverty, abuse, and human trafficking in Vietnam.
“All children have the right to be children, to be safe, to go to school, to play, to be treated with respect, to be heard, to be understood, and to be loved,” quipped Michael Brosowski, the founder of Blue Dragon, as Phan Do Phuc, the conductor, spoke about the importance of the orchestra’s cultural activities.
“In addition to conveying the beauty of classical music to the wider community, the concert also seeks to create a brighter future for disadvantaged children in Vietnam,” he stated.
The charity concert will feature five works of classical music, including “Capriol Suite” by Peter Warlock; “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” – Barcarolle by Jacques Offenbach; English Folk Suite “Seventeen Come Sunday” and Intermezzo “My Bonny Boy” by Vaughan Williams; Excerpts from The Sound of Music Suite by Richard Rodgers; and Petite Suite for Orchestra “Thien Thanh” by Tran Manh Hung.
The Vietnam Youth Orchestra made its debut concert in 2022, luring a large crowd of locals and international audiences. Photo: VYO |
The Vietnam Youth Orchestra (VYO) is an initiative of the Vietnam Music Initiative (VYMI) in strategic partnership with the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra (VNSO). As the country’s first multinational youth symphony orchestra, VYO provides an orchestral program for young people aged 12 to 22. Each year, the VYO Community Concert is held for charitable purposes.
Founded in 2023, Blue Dragon’s mission is to rescue children from crises such as sex trafficking, forced labor, and slavery in the short term and to place them in school, training, and employment in the long term.
It provides a range of direct services to underprivileged children, including providing shelter or renovating/repairing their existing home if the living conditions are not suitable, tutoring them in their studies, supplying books and stationery to those who cannot afford them, offering scholarships for both children and college students, providing medical care and nutritional aid to those who require it.
Trang Trinh’s musical dream
Pianist Trinh Mai Trang (also known as Trang Trinh) graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London. She has a long list of international prizes and has all the criteria needed to flourish on the Western stage but she chose to come back to her fatherland to realize the dream of bringing classical music to the masses in her own way.