On Saturday and Sunday mornings, visitors to Tao Dan Park in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 can hear the sweet sound of violin coming from a corner in the park.
The Warm Melody Band comprising amateur violinists comes to the park to practice playing this stringed instrument.
Eleventh-grader Phuc An, a member of the band, said he had not learned to play the violin in a professional way before but because he loves the sound of violin, he searched for violin classes on the Internet.
“I came across the Warm Melody Band which offers free classes for people who love violin at Tao Dao Park on weekends, so I bought a violin to join the band,” An told the Daily.
Warm Melody originated from Viet Violin organization which used to perform nationwide years ago. Back then, the organization held performances and training courses for violin enthusiasts.
Its members in the north used to perform at Hanoi Opera House and several universities in the capital while in the south, around 20 members of Viet Violin held their first Warm Melody music show at a coffee shop in Ho Chi Minh City’s Phu Nhuan District in 2011.
However, Viet Violin stopped operation in the north as membership shrunk. The disintegration of the organization in the north had affected its operation in the south. Several members in the south sought to keep the organization alive by playing the violin on weekends at Tao Dan Park, and later on became founders of Warm Melody.
Anh Thu, one of the founding members of the band, said Warm Melody gathers violin lovers, most of them amateurs, and uses Facebook as its main medium to update its activities.
“It is difficult to play the violin because players should have good listening skills and can perceive the rhythm and pitch well. Therefore, we will lack motivation if we play it alone,” she said.
Sharing Thu’s view, Do Tran Linh, an active member of the band, said: “It needs a group to practice playing the violin because violinists cannot make progress if playing alone.”
Although most members are amateurs, the founders of the band are still making effort to keep the playground for those sharing the same interest, he added. Warm Melody has members of different ages, ranging from a third grader to university students to middle-aged people.
Another member of the group said she does not know much about violin but because she loves the sound of the instrument, she bought a violin for VND1.7 million (US$74.8) so as to join Warm Melody every weekend.
Warm Melody has a special member nicknamed Narok. Narok has a workshop at home to produce, study and fix violins. All broken violins belonging to Warm Melody members have been repaired by Narok, who said the band has helped him make his voice heard in public as he used to be a self-contained type.
For more than one month now, the band has received help from Le Ngoc Tu, a lecturer at HCMC Conservatory of Music and a member of HCMC Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO).
Tu’s job is to choose music pieces and put them together to create pieces which are suitable for all of the band’s members.
“Through friends and information on Facebook, I got to know Warm Melody Band. I want to help the band so that its members will have a meaningful playground and can gradually turn the band into a professional one,” he said.
Warm Melody has performed in the “Uoc mo cua Thuy” (Thuy’s Dream) program organized by Tuoi Tre newspaper in a bid to give medical and financial support to child cancer patients, the Earth Hour program in Ho Chi Minh City and several coffee shops in town.
The band is practicing for their next performance set to take place on August 29 at The House Of Saigon coffee shop, marking their fourth performance at this coffee shop. This time, the band is expected gather piano, cello and guitar players apart from violinists.
The House Of Saigon coffee shop is located on Thu Khoa Huan Street in District 1.
SGT
Free violin classes at Saigon downtown park
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