Vietnam: Variations on America
From January 11th to 18th, American Voices brought its first American Artist-in-Residence program to Vietnamese audiences and educational institutions.
Over the course of the seven-day program approximately 200 music students and 1500 members of the concert-going public of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were reached via live performances, masterclasses and workshops in American music. Many thousands more were reached via radio and press interviews and later television broadcasts of these performances. The Vietnamese partner institutions for this residency included:
The Ministry of Culture
Hanoi Conservatory of Music
Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music
In the course of our events, many influential Vietnamese musicians and government institutions were reached, many for the first time via US Embassy cultural programming since the re-establishment of diplomatic relations. As a result, American Voices was able to establish a platform for future visits and projects with a wide variety of institutions throughout the country. This was soon demonstrated by the support shown for a Jazz project in April – "Jazz from J to Z" featuring CoCo York and Mike Del Ferro. This project was funded by the US Embassy and members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi and HCMC as well as by KLM, and the Hanoi Daewoo and Equatorial Hotels.
Sponsors:
Unocal
With the additional support of:
Hanoi Daewoo Hotel, Saigon
Equatorial Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City
KLM
US Embassy Hanoi and US Consulate Ho Chi Minh
Press:
"Ira Spaulding truly captivated the audience with the wonderful, timeless Summertime, a song that had bewitched the whole generation of 'old' people in the former Saigon when they were still young."
Thanh Nien (Young People) Newspaper, Vietnam