The newly started Cultural Development and Exchange Fund (CDEF) Board held its first board meeting on May 24 and was pleased to bestow grants on a total of four applicants.
CDEF was started in order to allow Denmark and Vietnam to expose their two different cultures to each other and to contribute to joint inspiration, cooperation and understanding between the artists and the people of the two countries.
Already in June the first of the lucky applicants will launch into action, as the project, “Wishing upon the Moon”, will take place with concerts in Hanoi and HCMC. “Wishing upon the Moon” presents contemporary world music in a true expression of cultural exchange and is among the first projects supported by the CDEF. The project has been granted a total of DKK 169.423,60 from CDEF.
The concerts present two well-known composers and musicians Quoc Trung and Niels Lan Doky in collaboration with the popular Vietnamese singers Thanh Lam and Tung Duong.
Quoc Trung is recognized as one of Vietnam’s leading composers bringing creativity and personality into his music production. Danish-Vietnamese Niels Lan Doky is a prominent and critically acclaimed jazz musician and producer. Lan Doky has performed around the world and has also given concerts in Vietnam on previous occasions. The two has collaborated since 1998.
Thanh Lam has been the queen of Vietnamese pop music for nearly a generation and has worked with both Quoc Trung and Lan Doky before.
Young vocalist Tung Duong has been on the rise since winning the Vietnamese music competition, Stars Rendezvous, and is currently perceived as one of Vietnam’s most noticeable singers.
Further funding
Apart from Wishing upon the Moon” further three projects have been funded by the CDEF Board.
One project “New Music: a Composer and Concert Project between Vietnam and Denmark”, plans to bring together 3 Danish and 3 Vietnamese composers in order to exchange ideas and impressions of their countries and lives. The aim is to write new music for a Vietnamese/Danish orchestra and perform the pieces of music for audiences in Vietnam. The project has been granted DKK 15.000 to cover a preparation trip to Vietnam for the Danish applicant.
Another project “A look at Vietnamese Contemporary Ballet” aims at bringing the art of contemporary ballet to Vietnamese students. A grant of DKK 15.000 has been approved in order to allow the Vietnamese applicant to go to Denmark and work with a Danish choreographer and potentially also a Danish composer.
The last project to receive funding, during this first round of applications, is Danish band “Swing Sisters”. The band is a participant in the upcoming European Jazz Festival 2006, where they are to perform with a Vietnamese big band. The project is supported with DKK 145.716.
Still looking for applicants
CDEF is still looking for projects to fund. If you have a project you think could attract some founds be sure to send your application before the application deadline on 1st of August. Information about CDEF can be found on the homepage of the Danish Embassy in Hanoi (www.ambhanoi.um.dk).
