The Việt Nam Symphony Orchestra (Dàn nhạc Giao hưởng Việt Nam) was established in 1959 with a total of 100 musicians and was expanded soon after to incorporate a choir of 120 singers; it gave its first public performance in Hà Nội during the Third Party Congress of 1960. Thereafter, despite ongoing difficulties such as the shortage of musicians, instruments and scores and lack of training and performance facilities, the orchestra developed rapidly under the baton of leading music directors such as Trọng Bằng, Trần Quý, Quang Hải and Đỗ Dũng, performing both in Hà Nội and in other cities and provinces of the north. Between 1964 and 1978 the orchestra became part of the combined Việt Nam Orchestra, Choir and Ballet Theatre (Nhà hát Giao hưởng, Hợp xướng, Nhạc Vũ kịch Việt Nam), contributing significantly to the growth and development of Vietnamese opera and ballet. At the height of the American War small groups of orchestral members were sent to the front in support of the war effort. A highlight of the period was the orchestra’s celebrated visit of May-June 1975 to newly-liberated Sài Gòn, where it gave numerous performances under the baton of Trọng Bằng. In 1978 the orchestra once more gained a separate identity, initially under the Hà Nội Conservatory of Music but from 1984 onwards as a separate national company under the Ministry of Culture. Thereafter a combination of basic training from the Hà Nội Conservatory of Music and collaborative projects involving conductors and soloists from a number of Eastern European countries laid the essential groundwork for the 1990s, a crucially important period in the VNSO’s history in which it emerged as an orchestra of international standard working with leading conductors and soloists from around the world. The VNSO currently comprises some 85 musicians and is unique amongst Asian national orchestras in that its membership remains 100 per cent local. It performs regular concerts at the Hà Nội Opera House under the baton of both local music directors and a number of top overseas conductors with whom it has forged partnerships, notably Fukumura Yoshikazu and Tetsuji Honna from Japan, Marc Kissoczy from Switzerland and Professor Colin Metters from the Royal Academy of Music in London. The orchestra also presents a monthly subscription series of chamber music concerts at its own concert hall under the baton of resident Assistant Conductor Graham Sutcliffe (contactable c/o British Council Việt Nam). In 2000 the VNSO made an acclaimed four-city tour to the People’s Republic of China and in 2002 the orchestra performed in Thailand. The Việt Nam Symphony Orchestra is currently seeking funds from international partners to develop its activities, further details are available on request.