VIP Reception | 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Concert | 7:30 – 9:00 pm
VAALA Cultural Center
Tickets: $20 (general) & $50 (VIP)
Available at the door, Tú-Quỳnh Book Store (714-531-4284),
and Bolsa Tickets (714-418-2499, www.bolsatickets.com).
For more information, please contact VAALA at (714) 893-6145 or email info@vaala.org.
A holiday fundraising event has become an annual tradition for VAALA. This year’s event will feature award-winning Pianist Van Hung Cuong. He will be performing works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Lê Văn Khoa and more.
About Van Hung Cuong
The recipient of many international awards, pianist Cuong Hung Van has performed throughout the United States, Asia, Australia, and Europe and has been hailed by critics as a major young talent. Born in south Vietnam, Cuong Hung Van began his studies at the HCMC Conservatory. Before coming to the United States he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study at Moscow State Conservatory where he worked with Victor Merzhanov. His record of performance in Russia is extensive.
Recent concert engagements in the United States include Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and the Phillips Collection and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. He has also made orchestral appearances with the World Festival Symphony Orchestra in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Ho Chi Minh City Symphony Orchestra, Vietnam.
In addition to winning the gold medal at Ohio’s Cincinnati World Piano Competition, Cuong Hung Van was also honored with the first prize at the Frina Awerbuch International Piano Competition in New York City and the second prize at the Hilton Head International Piano Competition.
Critics have been effusive in their praise for this artist’s interpretive powers and technical skill. Donald Rosenberg of the Cleveland Plain Dealer said, “Cuong Hung Van puts his searching musicality to splendid use in all of his fare…[his] taste was impeccable; his command of musical elements complete.” Of his Hilton Head performance the reviewer said, “He displayed carefully developed musical ideas…distinguished by multicolored cascades of sound, translucent sections of stillness and supple, tastefully proportioned phrasing.” Live recordings have been broadcast on WQXR, New York, WGMS, Washington D.C., WCLV, Cleveland, and Vietnam National Television.