HCM CITY (VNS) —Veteran composer and conductor Vinh Lai's Mien Dong Thanh Dong (The East- Iron Bulwark) symphony will be staged for the first time by the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) tonight.

The 60-minute symphony includes four sections, Quat Cuong (Rising), Tuong Niem (Memory), Huong Rung-Tinh Bien (The Scent of Forest - Love of the Sea), and Rang Ro Vien Ngoc Mien Dong (Shiny Eastern Pearl), featuring Vietnamese people and soldiers on stage who contributed to the country's independence.

Conductor Tran Vuong Thach will lead the orchestra of 60 artists.

Born in 1939, Lai graduated in composing and conducting from the Viet Nam National Academy of Music and later studied at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig in Germany.

The event's second part will feature artists from HBSO's ballet corps, including Ta Thuy Chi, Thu Trang, Ho Phi Diep and Duc Nhuan.

They will be featured in To Quoc (The Country), a dance in four acts choreographed by People's Artist Ha The Dung and Luong Xuan Thanh.

With music by talented composers Viet Anh and La Y San, To Quoc tells the story of historical events that contributed to building and protecting the country.

The concert is one of the city's many cultural programmes to celebrate the 125th birthday of President Ho Chi Minh.

The two-hour show will begin at 8pm tonight at the Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square, in District 1. — VNS