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Vietnamese-American singer returns for first live show

HCM City, November 30 (VNA) - Vietnamese-American singer Khanh Ly will stage her first live show in HCM City on December 2, after leaving Vietnam 41 years ago to settle in the US.

Khanh Ly will perform with singers Y Lan, also a Vietnamese-American living in the US. Other singers from Vietnam’s pop stars Hong Nhung and Ho Ngoc Ha and Quang Dung will also join the legendary singer in her show.

Around 2,000 people are expected to attend the Khanh Ly – Live Concert in Saigon, to take place at the 7th Military Zone Gymnasium.

She will perform 30 songs by famous composers, including Pham Duy, Lam Phuong, Vu Thanh An, Nguyen Anh 9 and Anh Bang.

The 70-year-old, whose career is closely connected with anti-war songs by the late songwriter Trinh Cong Son, will sing her greatest hits from the composer’s best albums.

Khanh Ly, whose real name is Nguyen Thi Le Mai, was born into a traditional family in 1945 in Hanoi. She began her singing career when she was nine years old.

In 1956, she moved with her family to the South and won her first prize in a children’s singing contest with a song by Pham Duy, one of the country’s most outstanding composers in contemporary music.

In 1964, she met Trinh Cong Son in Da Lat and they quickly became a couple in the music world. Three years later, she started singing his songs in Sai Gon, leaving a strong impression on young audiences.

Khanh Ly and Trinh Cong Son performed together for students at several venues in the city, including Van Khoa University, to spread his anti-war lyrics on the famous album Da Vang (Yellow Skin).

In 1970, Khanh Ly performed at the Osaka Fair in Japan following an invitation by the Nippon Columbia recording company. She also recorded an album in both Vietnamese and Japanese, featuring Trinh Cong Son’s songs like Diem Xua (Old Fame) and Ca Dao Me (Mother’s Folk Songs)

Diem Xua (Utsukushii Mukashi  in Japanese), was listed among the country’s top 10 favourite love songs.  

Since 2012, Khanh Ly has performed in Hanoi, Da Nang and Hue and the provinces of Binh Duong and Dong Nai.
VNA/VNP
 


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