Rio de Janeiro’s Bachiana Brasileira Symphony Orchestra will perform a programme entitled One Hundred Years of Brazillian Concerto at the National Academy of Music in Ha Noi on Tuesday.

The 26 member orchestra, under conductor Ricardo Rocha, will perform the works of six classical and modern composers, including one of Brazil’s most well-know composers, Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959).

Villa-Lobos’s work mixed Indian and Brazilian folklore elements with the European tradition and includes his Bachianas Brasileiras, his tribute to JS Bach written during 1930-45.

In Ha Noi, the orchestra will perform choruses No 4 and No 9 from that work. Chorus No 4 was conceived for the rather strange instrumentation of three French horns and a trombone, while Chorus No 9 features a full string section.

"His music is very popular with Brazilians," said Brazilian Ambassador to Viet Nam Joao Mendonca Lima Neto.

The Bachiana Brasileira Symphony Orchestra is highly regarded in Brazil thanks to their high quality performances and willingness to perform works that in stretch across the entire colonial period of Brazil, European Baroque and contemporary music.

As the orchestra’s musical director, Rocha has played an important role in the music scene of Rio de Janeiro.

Over the past decade, he has conducted orchestras in Germany, including the Thuringian Orchestra, the Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bamboo Symphony, which toured Germany in 2000 and recorded for Bavarian Radio.

Rocha studied piano under Werther Napolitano at the Villa-Lobos College of Music and orchestra conducting under Roberto Duarte at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

In Brazil, he has been invited to wave the baton as guest conductor of a number of renowned orchestras, including the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, the Symphonic Orchestra of Sao Paulo Municipal Theatre and the Symphonic Orchestra of Minas Gerais.

The concert will begin at 8pm 6th of October at 77 Hao Nam Street, Ha Noi. Earlier in the day, the musicians will meet National Academy of Music students.

(Vietnam News)