First Vietnam-Japan piano festival opens

Vietnamese ambassador to Japan Doan Xuan Hungdelivered aa speech emphasising how significant the event was in the context of the growing ties between the two nations.

He talked at length about how bilateral relations  have increasingly developed over recent years with a series of economic, cultural and educational exchanges.

This is a valuable opportunity for pianists from both countries to perform in front of large foreign audiences, he said, adding that it is also an excellent chance for both nations to promote their culture and traditions and learn from each other through various diverse musical activities.

The concert has received thunderous applause from Japanese friends and audiences.Nguyen Le Binh An - a 16-year-old pianist, studying at the Vietnam National Academy of Music, was invited by the organising board to perform with Japanese artists.

The early stages of the festival saw a successful rendition of Mozart’s Concerto No 7, delivered bya  21-year old Japanese musictalent AiriKatada and Binh An.  Despite having only met days earlier it was a pitch-perfect performance by the two young artists.

Meanwhile, a female pianist from Japan, Ayuko Higuchi treated audiences to a medley of music from famous composers such as Mozart, Bizet and Chopin.

Ayuko also performed a series ofspeciality pieces originally derived from Vietnamese folk songs like Ly Ngua O (Black Horse Melody), Trong Com (Rice Drum), and Beo Dat May Troi (Floating Water Lily and Wandering Cloud).

Ayuko Higuchi is a highly successful pianist in Japan winningseveral prestigious prizes and certificates of merit from the Japanese Education Minister. She has delivered outstanding performances in many nations including the US and France and inparticular Vietnam Festival 2008 with the accompaniment of Japan’s Crown Prince Naruhito.

President of Global Citizenship Club Kawashima Keiko was hugely impressed by the performance of young Vietnamese talent BinhAn who excecuted Franz Liszt’s masterpieces with the same confidence as  a world famous musician.

Another Japanese spectator, Watanabe Mihoko, said that she was compelled to attend the festival as it reminded her of the time when she and her husband lived in Vietnam. She added that both sides shouldorganise more similar music festivals so that both nations have the opportunity to share musical experiences.