Concert «AYO & Piano Laureates Perform the Classical Masters»

   A hundred young musicians drawn from across Asia, two consecutive nights that share not a single work between them, and Hanoi as the only Vietnamese stop on this summer's Asian tour. If you have been waiting for a symphonic evening of real international weight in the capital, this is one to book early.

   The two evenings are built as a pair rather than a repeat:

• — First night — Programme B, with guest conductor John Axelrod and pianist Lingfei Stephan Xie: Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien, Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5.
• — Second night — Programme A, with principal conductor Joseph Bastian and pianist Anna Tsybuleva: Wagner's Tannhäuser Overture, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Sibelius's Symphony No. 2.

   The Asian Youth Orchestra grew out of an idea by the violinist Yehudi Menuhin and the music educator Richard Pontzious, and played its first concert in 1990. Since then it has given more than 400 concerts to over a million listeners. The roster is rebuilt every season: players audition across Asia, rehearse together in one camp and only then go on tour. This year the camp ran from 12 July to 1 August at The Tianjin Juilliard School, and the tour itself runs from 2 to 23 August through Tianjin, Beijing, Hong Kong, Hanoi, Chiayi City, Taipei, Chiba, Atsugi and Tokyo.

   Both soloists come with a record you can check. Anna Tsybuleva won the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2015, and Lingfei Stephan Xie took first place at the 2025 Tianjin Juilliard Piano Festival. John Axelrod is Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Swiss National Orchestra and Principal Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano.

   The programming works for regular concertgoers and first-timers alike: each night sets a famous piano concerto beside a large symphony, so you can choose by temperament — the Russian-Soviet evening with its edge, or the more romantic German-Nordic one.

   The main hall releases 690 seats a night across four price tiers, on sale from 06:00 on 3 August. Each night has its own seat map, so hearing both programmes means choosing seats twice.

   The hall stands on Hàng Bài, a few minutes' walk south of Hoàn Kiếm Lake. It opened in July 2023, and this is the orchestra's first appearance on its stage.

   For international programme enquiries: 082 558 3888. Email: [email protected].

   Pick the night that matches your mood — or take both and hear the same orchestra in two completely different colours.