On January 5, Fort Collins Symphony Music Director Wes Kenney conducted the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra at the Hanoi Opera House as part of an ongoing international exchange between the orchestras. Kenney led the VNSO in Copland’s Rodeo Suite, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 6, and the Bruch Violin Concerto with soloist Do Phoung Nhi, a native of Vietnam, who had previously performed the Bruch concerto in Fort Collins in May 2016. Do Phoung Nhi’s parents are also violinists in the VNSO. While in Vietnam, Wes Kenney and his wife—violinist Leslie Stewart Kenney, who is director of string pedagogy at Colorado State University—are teaching classes at Hanoi’s Vietnam Academy of Music. Leslie Stewart Kenney also performed with the VNSO on January 5. Wes Kenney is blogging about the trip at the Fort Collins Symphony website.
Posted January 9, 2018