Hanoi Brass Community started in 2020 and has since become a regular place for many artists and brass players with all nationalities who are currently living and/or working in Hanoi. Among the founding members of the group are brass players Yuki (Japan) and Hoanh Pham (Vietnam). They both share a love for brass instruments and also are acknowledged brass performers. The group’s aim is to create a place for brass lovers to gather, play and perform together and furthermore, to spread the love of brass instruments and teach their techniques to other people.
“After a long time of dreaming and planning for a place like this, we brass lovers now are eager to connect with people who also have the same interest, so that we can share our passion and knowledge about the instruments that we love,” said Yuki. So far, Hanoi Brass Community has about 20 members from countries such as Japan, Spain and USA.They are expatriates living and working in Hanoi. They have brought with them brass tunes that connect friends from different countries and help with exchanging foreign as well as Vietnamese music culture.
Every week, the members of Hanoi Brass Community band get together
to arrange their work so that they can meet and practice regularly. Photo: Thanh Giang / VNP
Hanoi Brass Community became a regular place for many artists and brass players with all nationalities who are currently living and/or working in Hanoi. Photo: Thanh Giang / VNP
They both share a love for brass instruments and also are acknowledged brass performers. Photo: Thanh Giang / VNP
The band performs a Vietnamese song. Photo: Thanh Giang/VNP
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In the two years of 2020 and 2021, despite being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Hanoi Brass Community has had various meaningful activities such as performing online and offline for the “Cross-centuries music” concert in collaboration with the Goethe Institute in Hanoi; organizing Hanoi Brass Week with master classes taught by prestigious artists and lecturers from Vietnam and Germany, providing basic knowledge and instruction as well as intensive exercises on brass instruments. Classes taking place at the Goethe-Institute and online attracted hundreds of attendees. Every day, there were concerts held for brass players to experience performing in front of an audience.
Lecturers are all acclaimed artists and members of well known orchestras such as the Berlin State Opera, the Deutsche Opera, the Lübeck Philharmonic Orchestra, the Deutschlandradio Kultur and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
In 2021, Hanoi Brass Community was invited by the International Trumpet Association to perform in a program that aimed to connect an international trumpet community to foster mutual development, exchange and improve their skills regardless of national borders. It was an honor for Vietnam to be able to share music with friends from Thailand, China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, India and the Philippines.
Among Hanoi Brass Community’s foreign artists is Jose Antonio Rodriguez Vazquez - a talented brass player from Spain. Jose is not only a performer with remarkable achievements, but also is adept at playing many types of brass such as the tuba and euphonium. For the Vietnamese, Hanoi Brass Community has Pham The Hoanh, who is known for his research and experiments of weaving Vietnamese traditional culture into brass music. Hoanh has partnered with the University of Melbourne's Asian Education Foundation to bring Vietnamese traditional music into the Building BRIDGE Podcast Series for World Teachers' Day streamed on Spotify.
Hanoi Brass Community band in an outdoor performance. Photo: Thanh Giang / VNP
Members of the brass band perform together in a series of concerts at the Goethe Institute. Photo: Thanh Giang / VNP
The brass band performs the song "My homeland Vietnam" by musician Do Nhuan
in the concert series "Music of the 20th Century". Photo: Hanoi Brass Community Files
Hanoi Brass Community's out-door performance. Photo: Thanh Giang/VNP
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The brass instruments of Hanoi Brass Community have been used in many social projects such as the exchange with children and residents of group 16, Phuc Tan ward on the occasion of inaugurating the playground at the Red river area and teaching and performing for students at Wonder Kindergarten.
Every Saturday, Hanoi Brass Community practices at the Goethe Institute. This is the place that has supported Hanoi Brass Community in their quest for expanding and spreading the love for brass instruments in Vietnam. Hopefully in the near future, Hanoi Brass Community can continue to bring melodies to the public so that everyone can have a new choice for a healthy and positive way to make music.