Mời các bạn nghe hai bài nhạc rất xuất sắc của nhạc kịch Huyền Cầm do Ignace Lai, tốt nghiệp âm nhạc tại Université de Montréal, đạt được nhiều giải thưởng quốc tế về âm nhạc.  Ðóng vai nam chánh trong Huyền Cầm.  Hiện nay là giáo sư âm nhạc.

 

Download RealPlayer.

 

 

 

a musical drama

to commemorate the 25th anniversary

of the settlement of the vietnamese community

in quebec and in canada

 

 

Music : Ignace Lai   Lyrics: Chiêu Uyên Vu
Original Narrative: Thê Hung Lai   Stage Director: Binh Minh
Choreography: Luu Binh   Set Decoration: Tuan Nguyên
Lighting: Nicolas Ricard   Sound: Robert Hankins

 

Created by the hong duc vietnamese cultural centre

a

A - Huyền Cầm

 

 

 

STORYLINE

AND MEANING 

HUYEN CAM is a love story between two young people living through the major events in the history of Vietnam, since the 1940's.

Huyen Cam is all about faithfulness between two people, the love of freedom, the respect for peace and the longing for a country.

Huyen Cam is also the name of the main female character, who has to fend for herself in life and face her destiny, exactly like the DOC HUYEN CAM monochord symbolizing Vietnam, a single chord instrument capable of moving peoples hearts through its musicality.

This musical drama is comprised of two acts and lasts two hours with a fifteen-minute intermission. 

 

ARTISTIC GOALS 

The real value of this musical production resides in the fact that an western art form is used to convey oriental songs.

Our composer shows his genius by using the oriental pentatonic scale in combination with the western tonal system, to give a much richer sound to the Vietnamese folk music.

The "musical" combines the various artforms of music, theatre, dancing and painting, all of which are taught at our Cultural Centre. 

 

B - PROFILES 

Ignace Lai, composer and singer

Mr. Lai began his musical training at the age of seven, when he started taking piano lessons with Mrs. Christiane Claude. He then became a pupil of Mr. Gilles Manny at the University of Montreal. During those years, he won several major piano competitions, such as the Canadian Music Competition (Quebec chapter), the International Czech and Slovak Music Competition, the APMQ Spring Festival and many others. He also performed in concerts at the Place des Arts, the Redpath Hall and the Bon Pasteur Historic Chapel in Montreal, to name but a few.

Interested not only in piano playing but also in composing, Mr. Lai now studies musical composition with Mr. Michel Longtin and Mr. José Evangelista, two renowned professors at the University of Montreal. In 1998, he wrote a musical entitled "Moon" (in which he also played the lead) and recently completed the musical "Huyen Cam". He is presently a piano teacher, a multimedia professor, the manager of his own recording studio (Lai Your Hands Production) and also acts as Artistic Director of the Hong Duc Vietnamese Cultural Centre.
 

The Hung Lai, choir master

Mr. Lai, a physician, has founded five choirs since 1975, four of which were Catholic church choirs. The fifth one, "Vietnam in Chorus" specializes in Vietnamese folk and pop songs. He received his musical training from Master Hai Linh in Vietnam, a Ph. D. music graduate from the Sorbonne in France. In 1977, Mr. Lai became a gold medal recipient of the Vietnam National Music Competition as choir master of the Saigon University 200-member choir. And in 1980, at a refugee camp in Indonesia, he had the honour of being praised by the Cardinal of Jakarta for having founded an 80-member choir and helped build a church for the camp.

Since 1980, he has kept himself busy in Quebec by becoming choir master at the Notre Dame du Bon Secours chapel, by founding and directing "Vietnam in Chorus", then the Vietnamese Cultural School and now, the Hong Duc Vietnamese Cultural Centre.

 

Chieu Uyen Vu, lyricist

Mrs. Vu, a science professor in Vietnam, has sung in various choirs for over 25 years. She has always been deeply interested in Vietnamese poetry and music. Once in Canada, she was able to develop her literary talent by writing the lyrics for several of Ignace Lais works, such as his musical "Moon", in 1998. Capitalizing on that experience, she finished the lyrics for the musical drama "Huyen Cam" at the end of 1999.

Mrs. Vu paints in her free time and also plays the zither, a Vietnamese traditional musical instrument.

               

 

Luu Binh, choreographer

Mr. Luu has been part of the artistic world for a long time. The son of a violinist, he learned classical dance and tap dancing in the 40's and the 50's and was especially interested in the different folk dances of the world. In the 60's, he studied Vietnamese and Western percussions in various private schools in Vietnam, Hong Kong and Taiwan. He was the drummer of a big band in Vietnam. Over the course ot the next 20 years, he directed a circus company and a theatre and dance group. During that time, he perfected his Vietnamese dance techniques. He went on to become a professional choreographer for many shows in Vietnam from 1970 to 1984, thanks to his talent as a dancer.

Since his arrival in Quebec in 1984, he has has remained active in his field, combining both techniques from the East and the West. He currently is in charge of the dance group at the Hong Duc Vietnamese Cultural Centre.

Duc Thanh, monochord player

Mr. Duc Thanh completed his studies in folk music in 1983 at the University of Traditional Music in Saigon, Vietnam. Specializing in monochord playing, he won the International Monochord Competition in 1985.

Since his arrival in Quebec in 1996, he has participated in many well-known festivals such as the Quebec International Festival, the Asian Heritage Festival and the Vietnamese Art and Music World Festival. On several occasions, he was invited to perform on CBC Radio with Professor Tran Van Khê. He has also recorded many training videos and audio cassettes to help teach several traditional Vietnamese instruments (he can play close to 20 of them). He also has to his credit recordings as a soloist or in an orchestra, including the "Three Seasons" sound track composed by Richard Horowitz, in which he played the monochord.

 

Binh Minh a.k.a. Trung Hiêu Nguyên, stage director and mime

Having studied at the School of Popular Arts of Saigon, Vietnam, Mr. Hieu specializes in mime and stage direction. In his field, he was a mime teacher and artist at the Youth Centre in Indonesia. He also helped organize several shows for the Saigon Cultural Activity Committee. In 1998, he was stage director of the musical "Moon", performed by "Vietnam in Chorus".

               

Quoc Tuan Nguyên, painter and scenographer

Mr. Nguyen obtained his Bachelor of Visual Arts and his History of Art Certificate in Saigon, Vietnam. For over 25 years, his works have been displayed in distinguished art galleries around the world, such as the Cultural Centre of Saigon, the Art Gallery of the University of Quebec in Montreal, the Complexe Desjardins and Complexe Guy Favreau in Montreal, the VAALA Art Gallery in California, the University of Toronto Gallery and particularly, the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

In 1988, he perfected his drawing skills and obtained a diploma in industrial design and computer aided design at the Outremont Technology Centre in Montreal. In 1998, his set decoration for the musical "Moon" was a testimony to his sense of artistry.

C - THE HONG DUC VIETNAMESE CULTURAL CENTRE

 

STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION

I- Three groups represent the Centres main areas of activities:

* "Vietnam in Chorus" , a choir created in 1990

* The Vietnamese Cultural School, established in 1993

* The Vietnamese Youth-Action Centre, founded in 2000. Its mission is to encourage youths to actively and effectively participate in the development of their culture.

II- Our organization has approximately 50 volunteers who are part of the Administrative Board, the executive committee, the teaching staff, unit managers and the Parents Committee. We hold activities every Sunday at Marianopolis College.

 

 

GOALS

The Hong Duc Vietnamese Cultural Centre is a non-profit organization whose goals are to:

© -Promote the Vietnamese culture within the community, by teaching the Vietnamese language, studying traditional arts and encouraging youths to participate in different activities.

© -Introduce others to that culture

© -Help Vietnamese integrate into the Quebec society.

To reach those goals, we intend to:

* Provide the Vietnamese youth with tangible means such as language, music, literature and dance

* Combine our efforts with other organizations with similar goals.

 

ACHIEVEMENTS

I- "Vietnam in Chorus"

The choir has seven shows to its credit, including the musical "Moon" at the Monument national and ten other events held in collaboration with other organizations.

It has approximately 50 singers from all ages and nationalities.

II- The Vietnamese Cultural School

With only a few language and music courses at its beginning, the School now offers close to fifteen classes in different fields, such as traditional musical instruments, culture, singing and dancing.

More than 200 students from seven to fifty years old attend the School, ten per cent of whom are non-Vietnamese Quebecers.