Musicians at work: Composer Nguyen Cuong (left) and his students at a rehearsal for the first show. — VNS File Photo

HA NOI — The capital's first chamber music club celebrated its opening last night with a free performance at 61 Ly Thai To Street, the headquarters of the Music Publishing House.

According to the artistic director, composer Nguyen Cuong, the club was formed in order to bring international and Vietnamese chamber music pieces to a local audience.

The club will run on financial contributions from various Vietnamese composers, who will pay money to have their own works staged and performed by the club, he said.

"Vietnamese audiences are still not familiar with chamber music, and as a result it costs too much to organise a performance of this kind," he said,

"Each year hundreds of pieces go unheard by audiences."

The club has gathered young students from the Viet Nam National Academy of Music and will perform once every two months at the 50-seat hall of the Music Publishing House.

It will also prepare for more frequent public performance elsewhere in the city.

"We [Vietnamese composers] established the club to satisfy our own demand to let local audiences know more about world and Vietnamese classical music," Cuong said. "Profit has nothing to do with this project."

Last night's show was divided into two parts. The first featured young Vietnamese talents performing international classical pieces and the second introduced works by composers Nguyen Cuong, Duy Thinh, Ngoc Thuan and Nguyen Viet Binh. — VNS