HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The Vera Quartet, a string quartet from the world-renownedCurtis Institute of Music, will perform for the first time in Vietnam in a showcalled "Curtis On Tour: Vera Quartet" to be held in Ho Chi Minh Cityon April 20.

The performance, which will take place at the HCM City Conservatory of Music,is part of a special string quartet concert under the banner of the Soul LiveProject Series: The Modern Classics.

Organised by Amberstone Media in collaboration with the world-renowned CurtisInstitute of Music in the US, the performance aims to continue the journey ofbringing classical music closer to Vietnamese audiences.

The "Curtis On Tour: Vera Quartet" is a special gift to those wholove the performing arts programmes of the Soul Live Project Series, which hasbrought many “firsts” to the city.

For the first time, a string quartet will perform in the Soul Live ProjectSeries: The Modern Classics. The Vera Quartet (from the Curtis Institute ofMusic) will perform for the first time in Vietnam, and, in another first, aconcert in the Soul Live Project Series will be held in the cosy space of HCMCity Conservatory of Music’s Concert Hall, organisers said.

After one year of operation, the Soul Live Project Series: The Modern Classicsis now presenting its fourth concert. On the heels of performances by Germanbaritone Benjamin Appl, Korean percussionist Gina Hyungi Lee, and the duo ofTimothy Sun and Jacqueline Leung from Hong Kong, Vietnamese audiences will betreated to a new musical experience: a string quartet and its appealing role inchamber music.

A highlight of chamber music and classical music in general, a string quartetis a powerful ensemble. With only four instruments (two violins, one cello andone viola), a string quartet can pull off a wide range of sounds and bring outboth the tenderness and intensity of a full symphonic piece.

At the performance on April 20, the Vera Quartet will perform threemasterpieces from Beethoven, Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, and contemporaryAsian composer Bright Sheng, who was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Musicin 1989.

The concert will feature the vivid musical world of Bright Sheng, with thepiece Silent Temple, an exploration of the composer’s memory of visiting anabandoned Buddhist temple.

Established in 2015, the Vera Quartet is in residence at Curtis Institute ofMusic, one of America's most prestigious art and music institutes, whichtrained prodigy pianist Lang Lang.

Following four years of touring throughout the US, Spain, the Republic of Korea,Hong Kong and Japan, the Vera Quartet won major awards at various musiccompetitions, such as the Plowman Chamber Music Competition and the ChamberMusic in Yellow Springs Competition for Emerging Professional Ensembles; top prizesfrom the M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition; and the St Lawrence award from theWigmore Hall String Quartet Competition.

In 2017, they were selected as Young Artist in Residence at NPR’s (NationalPublic Radio in the US) Performance Today programme.

As one of the most reputable schools in the US with the mission to educate andtrain exceptionally gifted international musicians, and with the Curtis on Tourinitiative, The Curtis Institute of Music wants to share its “learn by doing”philosophy to all students and encourage them to create unique and impressiveperformance projects. Vietnam is one of the destinations for this meaningfulprogramme.

By bringing the Vera Quartet to Vietnam, the Soul Live Project Series hopesthat the Curtis Institute of Music will not only inspire the local communitywith its passion for chamber music, but also act as encouragement for musicstudents in Vietnam to pursue their love of music. - VNS/VNA