The Vietnam Youth Music Institute (VYMI) and the Hoan Kiem District People's Committee will jointly organize a charity concert entitled "VYO Community Concert" 2023 on May 28 at 9:30 am at the Center for Arts and Culture, No. 22 Hang Buom Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi.

The concert aims to help underprivileged children in Vietnam. Photo: Blue Dragon Children's Foundation

The concert aims to raise VND300,000,000 (US$13,000), equivalent to 50 scholarships for 50 disadvantaged children, allowing them to attend school.

The fundraising campaign is being coordinated by the Blue Dragon Children's Foundation (Blue Dragon), a Hanoi-based non-profit organization.

Quoting Michael Brosowski, founder of Blue Dragon, "All children have the right to be children, to be safe, to go to school, to play, to be treated with respect, to be heard, to be understood, and to be loved," conductor Phan Do Phuc shared that he and the orchestra find this cultural activity significant.

"In addition to spreading the beauty of classical music to the community, the concert also hopes to open up a better future for underprivileged children in Vietnam," he said.

The charity concert will feature five works of classical music, including "Capriol Suite" by Peter Warlock; "Les Contes d'Hoffmann" - Barcarolle by Jacques Offenbach; English Folk Suite "Seventeen Come Sunday" and Intermezzo "My Bonny Boy" by Vaughan Williams; Excerpts from The Sound of Music Suite by Richard Rodgers; and Petite Suite for Orchestra "Thien Thanh" by Tran Manh Hung.

The Vietnam Youth Orchestra made its debut concert in 2022, luring a large crowd of locals and international audiences. Photo: VYO

The Vietnam Youth Orchestra (VYO) is Vietnam's first multinational youth symphony orchestra and an initiative of VYMI in strategic partnership with the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra (VNSO) to establish an orchestral program for young people aged 12 to 22. The VYO Community Concert is held annually for charitable purposes.

Founded in 2023, Blue Dragon's mission is to rescue children from crises such as sex trafficking, forced labor, and slavery in the short term and to place them in school, training, and employment in the long term.

It provides a range of direct services to underprivileged children, including shelter or repair/renovation of their existing home if the living conditions aren't suitable, tutoring children's study, providing books and stationery to those who can't afford it, and scholarships for both children and college students, providing medical care and nutritional support to those who need it.