Vietnam Children Choir aimed for the future

15:27' 01/07/2007 (GMT+7)

The Vietnam Children Choir in a performance VietNamNet Bridge – After a great deal of hard work, the country’s first children’s choir, Vietnam Children’s Choir, will perform on an international stage for the first time this July when they tour the western US. Founding days In May 2004, during a trip to Hong Kong, conductor Pham Hong Hai from the Vietnam Opera and Ballet Theatre accidentally learned that an international association of children’s choirs from around 40 countries was based there. So after half an hour talking with the Hong Kong founder of that association, Pham Hong Hai started to think about establishing a children’s choir for Vietnam. He came home, proposed the idea to Head of the Vietnam Opera and Ballet Theatre, and rolled up his sleeves to turn the proposal into reality. He distributed leaflets recruiting talented children who loved singing and dancing every time the theatre held performances. And so on July 15 the same year, the Vietnam Children’s Choir (VCC), the first one of its kind in Vietnam, was born. Before VCC, there had been amateur children choirs elsewhere who simply sang children’s songs rather than those written exclusively for children’s choirs. VCC members, however, are taught in a much more professional way and learn how to work with orchestras. Twice a week, the kids come to the theatre to practice under the instruction of experienced opera artists and dancers. Killing three birds with one stone “By establishing VCC, we will kill three birds with one stone,” said conductor Pham Hong Hai. And what’s the first target that VCC is aimed for? According to the same conductor, it’s to train future generations of artists for the Vietnam Opera and Ballet Theatre. From the merely 30 kids who applied for VCC in its first days, VCC now has so many members that the theatre will stop recruiting for some time, for fear there aren’t enough stages as well as instructors for the kids. Many kids first came to VCC just out of curiosity, yet the more they learn, the better they love what they are taught, and so their parents have decided to head them in the professional road. “They will be outstanding artists in a near future. This is very important considering that the Opera and Ballet Theatre is facing a shortage of high-quality “input” these days,” said Pham Hong Hai. In addition, VCC’s young artists also contribute a great deal to the theatre’s programmes. In the past, the theatre could only look for adult actors with a child’s figure to perform in choirs or works written for children. But now that real child actors are in hand, adult actors no longer need to “pretend to be young.” And what is the third “bird” to be killed? This last goal is in fact no less important. The theatre wants to develop a faithful fan base for Vietnam’s choirs and orchestras. Not all of VCC’s current 300 members want to turn professional in the future. But one thing is for sure: they will all become the most enthusiastic audiences for this type of music which is yet to be popular in Vietnam. “The duty of each orchestra theatre in the world isn’t just to perform. It also needs to develop an audience base. Audiences today must have been developed yesterday. If you want your young people from 20 – 30 years of age spend their money to buy tickets to listen to your orchestras and choirs, you’ll have to make them love this type of music when they are 10 years old,” said conductor Hai. And not only these children, but their grandparents and parents may be drawn toward classical performances too. Conductor Hai added that more often than not, the enthusiasm and simplicity of child actors and artists were able to captivate more audiences than their adult counterparts can do. International performances So from July 5-20, 34 members of the Vietnam Children’s Choir will visit the western US including the states of Utah, Idaho and California. On July 9, VCC will perform alongside another children’s choir from Idaho Falls at Colonia Theatre. On July 10, there will be a small performance at Rigby Church; at Island Park Cultural House on July 1 and in Salt Lake City on July 14. For this US tour, VCC will sing familiar folk songs adapted to the choir. After America, VCC kids will visit Indonesia in November to join the Asian Choir Festival, and next year, they will also take part in the International Choir Festival to be held in August in Austria. (Source: Viet Nam Net)