Concert master: Norwegian Radio Orchestra and violinist Atle Sponberg. — Photo courtesy of Saigon Chamber Music

HCM CITY (VNS) — The Saigon Chamber Music's second season, a week-long summer music festival and intensive training course for young musicians, will take place from August 1 to 9 at the HCM City Conservatory of Music.

The event is organised by the conservatory and Norway's Transposition Programme, a collaborative effort that aims to enrich the musical landscape in the city with excellent concerts and provide young musicians with inspiring training and international exposure.

An opening concert, titled From Bach to Blues, will be held at 8pm on Saturday.

The chamber trio of concert master of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and violinist Atle Sponberg, British cellist Zoe Martlew and renowned Vietnamese-British pianist Tra Nguyen will perform.

The concert will embrace depth and variety from the pure beauty of Bach to Ravel, Chopin and Mendelssohn, to 20th century composers Gershwin and Kapustin.

Twenty-one young musicians were chosen from 38 candidates from Ha Noi and HCM City for training. They include nine violinists, two violists, four cellists, one contrabassist and six pianists.

The 16-year-old talented violinist Do Phuong Nhi, a student at the Viet Nam National Academy of Music, who was accepted to study at the famous Norway's Barratt Due Institute of Music, will be a guest of the training course.

The musicians will train six hours a day for one week, and take part in other activities of the festival.

The 2015 Saigon Chamber Music will offer master classes and workshops from 5pm daily from August 2 to 6, with free entrance.

The highlight of the event will be a concert showcasing 22 young Vietnamese talented artists performing a diverse repertoire of solo, duet, trio, and quartet works.

The young virtuosos concert, titled From Baroque to Broadway at 7pm on August 8, will feature the young musicians after their intensive week of training with the Saigon Chamber Music's international artists, who will also join them on stage. — VNS