The concert marks the first coordination between the conductor and the VNSO. 

For his debut in Hanoi, Mikkelsen will lead the VNSO to perform a new piece titled Hanoi, Hanoi ... and Hanoi, by contemporary Vietnamese composer Vu Nhat Tan. 

The VNSO will also play the piece Norwegian Artists' Carnival by Johan Svendsen (1840 -1911) for the first time. The composer was the first Norwegian symphonic composer, as well as one of the leading conductors of his day. 

Mikkelsen has been described by reviewers as "immensely compelling and dramatically powerful", and his control of sound, balance and textures as "masterly". 

He graduated from the Norwegian State Music Academy and then studied and received his diploma in orchestral conducting from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. 

The legendary conductor has made 50 recordings with orchestras such as the Latvian National Orchestra, the Ukrainian National Orchestra, and the Lithuanian National Orchestra, and worked at key positions with orchestras around the world.