Viet Nam News
HCM CITYI — Pop star Quang Dung will perform in HCM City, Ha Noi and California early next month at three sound and light shows for fans celebrating his 20-year career.
Dung will perform with friends, female singers Hong Nhung, Le Quyen, My Tam and Pham Thu Ha, and Vietnamese-American singers Hong Ngoc and Thanh Thao, who have contributed to the country’s contemporary music.
The 41-year-old Dung said he would sing with support of the orchestra.
"I was a rural boy and moved to live alone in HCM City to pursue my dream of singing. I faced challenges to develop my career without studying,” said Dung at a press conference to launch his tour in HCM City.
“My tour will provide fans with stories of my life, instead of just my music,” he said.
Though he will be singing songs that shot him to fame, Dung said that new styles would be featured.
His tour, called Giac Mo Mang Ten Minh (My Dream), will be directed by veteran artist Pham Hoang Nam of HCM City.
“Most of Dung’s pop songs and ballads will be remixed in the style of classical opera by composer Viet Anh of the HCM City Ballet Symphony and Opera Orchestra (HBSO),” said the event’s art director Nam.
“Dung will also try electronic music to meet the demand of his young fans,” he added.
The show’s conductor is young talent Tran Nhat Minh of the HBSO.
Highlights will include romantic songs written by veteran musicians Trinh Cong Son, Phu Quang, Vu Thanh An and Ngo Thuy Mien, such as Hoa Vang May Do (Yellow Flowers in Seasons), Ha Noi Ngay Tro Ve ( Ha Noi, the Day to Return) and O Noi Nao Em Con Nho (Do You Remember).
Dung, who lives in the US, will also perform a series of songs by female musician Dieu Huong, which made him a pop idol among audiences at home and abroad.
Born in a poor family in Binh Dinh Province’s Quy Nhon City, Dung began his singing career in 1998. Faced with many obstacles, he spent years singing in restaurants before hitting it big.
Dung has won acclaim from audiences in HCM City and the southern provinces, winning the most popular pop singer award, Blue Waves, in 2003, 2004 and 2005 from the Voice of HCM City.
In 2005, he received the title “Young People Live Well” presented by the Viet Nam Young People’s Union.
He has won several top prizes presented by TV stations and newspapers, including Viet Nam Television and HCM City Television.
The first show of Giac Mo Mang Ten Minh will open at 8pm on March 18 in HCM City’s Hoa Binh Theatre at 240 3 Thang 2 Street, District 10. The second show will take place on March 31 at the Ha Noi Friendship Palace, 91 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hoan Kiem District.
The tour will close with a special performance on May 14 at the City National Grove of Anaheim concert hall in Anaheim, California.— VNS