The HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) will celebrate its 21st anniversary with a gala on September 9. — Photo hbso.org.vn

HCM CITY (VNS) — The HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) will celebrate its 21st anniversary with a gala on September 9.

Viet Nam – Our Heritage, Our Love will feature two performances HBSO has described as being among "the most precious works" of Vietnamese music and dance.

Tran Manh Hung's folk suite The Flow will be performed by the HBSO Symphony Orchestra and HBSO Choir under the baton of Tran Nhat Minh.

It premiered in 2013.

It features music from 20 folk songs compiled for symphony orchestra, choir, and children's choir.

Hung said he composed it on the HBSO's "requirement".

"It was a reckless idea since there was no antecedent for symphonising folk songs anywhere in the country."

The second performance will also be a newish ballet titled The Legend Lives on and scripted and choreographed by People's Artists Vu Viet Cuong and Kim Quy, with additional choreography by Nguyen Phuc Hai and Nguyen Phuc Hung and music for the symphony orchestra and choir by Meritorious Artist Tran Vuong Thach, who will also conduct it.

Thach, currently the principal conductor of the HBSO, performs at concerts nation-wide.

He was invited to perform with the Nis Symphony Orchestra in Serbia, the New Prime Symphony Orchestra in Pusan, South Korea, and the Viet Nam National Symphony Orchestra.

He orchestrated the original soundtrack of movies such as Southern Land (1997), composed the theme song for TV drama Gem of Con Son (1998) and composed music for two traditional musical theatre plays, Kim Van Kieu (2006) and The Swan Cape (2007).

Tickets costing VND550,000, 400,000, 350,000, 200,000, and VND80,000 for students, are available at the venue. — VNS