Dutch conductor to lead concert at HCM City Opera House

The concert titled “A Night of European Dances” will highlight the premiere of Spanish composer Oscar Navarro’s second Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in Vietnam.

The concerto, which was commissioned by the Valencia Music Institute in 2012, has one long movement divided into three sections.

Navarro has numerous national and international composition awards, and his music is performed in large concert halls around the world. He also has written music for feature films, short films and documentaries. He is currently working in Spain and the US. The concerto will be performed by Vietnamese clarinetist Hoang Ngoc Anh Quan, along with the HCM City Ballet, Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) orchestra.

The orchestra will also present Selections from Carmen Suites by French composer Georges Bizet. The second half of the programme will feature Symphony No 8 in G major by Czech composer Dvorak.

Dvorak wrote it in two and a half months in 1889 to mark his elevation to membership of the Bohemian Academy of Science, Literature and Arts. The four-movement symphony has a cheerful and optimistic melody.

Dvorak conducted its premier in Prague in 1890. Conductor Leon Bosch is one of the Netherlands’ leading clarinetists. He is also a senior teacher at the Zuyd University of Applied Sciences in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

He has given masterclasses, both in the Netherlands and abroad, and frequently advises and coaches various orchestras including the Dutch National Youth Orchestra. In 2021, he was invited to conduct the HBSO orchestra in HCM City.