HCM CITY (VNS)— More than 200 singers and musicians will perform eight songs on a new album to highlight the service of Vietnamese soldiers stationed on the Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands.

Called Mua Xuan Bien Dao (Spring in the Sea Islands), the album is sponsored by the HCM City Music Association.

Songs by veteran and young composers, including Hong Dang, Hoang Hiep and Pham Dang Khuong, who have made great contributions to the country's music industry, will be featured on the recording.

Each song will be performed by 60 people, according to Le Quang, the art director, composer and producer of the album.

Pop stars Dam Vinh Hung, My Tam and Thanh Thao will join the performances.

One of the album's highlights will be Hong Dang's Bien Hat Chieu Nay (The Sea Sings this Afternoon), a popular song which praises the country and its people.

Younger singers will perform Khuong's Hoang Sa Truong Sa (Paracel and Spratly Islands), a pop song that includes simple but meaningful words.

Khuong composed Hoang Sa Truong Sa and other songs on the same topic after a fact-finding trip in which he lived with soldiers on the Truong Sa Islands.

Hiep's romantic song Buc Thu Tinh Nguoi Linh Bien (Love Letter from a Navy Soldier) will also be featured.

Quang said his staff was working hard on the recording in the studio. The album is expected to be released on December 6.

The producers hope to raise enough money from the sales of the album to help the Truong Sa soldiers and their families. —VNS