Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra

Life as a professional conductor has taken Colin Metters to many countries working with different and diverse orchestras.   Understanding national sensitivities and varying cultures and customs brings a new range of challenges that are definitely “extra-musical”.   Colin Metters cherishes the memories of one such challenge that was to absorb and embrace him for a decade.

 It was in 1996, on the invitation of the British Council and the Vietnamese government that Colin Metters visited Vietnam to undertake a review of classical music centred in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.  The review was to be wide ranging, covering  professional orchestras and conservatoires in both cities and  to include orchestral training, the teaching of conducting and make recommendations for future development.  The final report was received enthusiastically by both the British Council and the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture and Metters was subsequently invited to become Music Advisor and Principal Guest Conductor of the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra.  (VNSO)  He was to oversee and direct a long-term programme of orchestral training and development, visiting twice a year for periods of intensive rehearsal followed by concerts at the Hanoi Opera House.   This was a major collaboration between the British Council and the Vietnam Ministry of Culture and became a flagship for the British Council worldwide.   The BC wrote  “It was one of the longest and most successful U.K. -  Vietnam cultural partnerships”.

 In 2003 his work with the VNSO was the focus of a BBC  documentary called “Harmony in Hanoi”.

Of his VNSO experience Metters writes;  “When I started work in 1997 the orchestra was struggling.  They played only sporadically, had no real public recognition and morale was extremely low. Most players had at least one, often two other jobs to make a living.  Playing in cafes and bars, mending bikes by the roadside, selling memorabilia on the streets to tourists was the norm.  The players had a natural musicality and a huge desire to play the classical repertoire but had received no guidance on how to think and feel as an orchestra, how to rehearse and, most importantly, how to listen.  It was a huge challenge.  I returned to the VNSO twice a year for a decade.   The relationship that developed over these 10 years was built on serious hard work, determination and trust.  Results did not always come easily but the relationship we had was one of genuine affection and huge mutual respect.  It was particularly special since it had  no linguistic foundation yet we enjoyed extraordinary rapport and our understanding through music was immediate.   We performed a large number of standard classical and romantic symphonic works which in many cases had never before been performed in Vietnam. We also promoted and performed the premieres of many works by Vietnamese composers.”   In recognition of Metters' transformative work with the orchestra the Vietnamese government awarded him the Vietnam equivalent of the Order of Merit  -  the highest honour bestowed on a non-Vietnamese national.  

 In 2013 Colin Metters was invited back to conduct a concert sponsored by the British Council to celebrate 40 years of Vietnam/ UK relations.

 The VNSO is now a fully functioning, full-time professional orchestra with full concert schedules across the year and a strong public following.  “I am immensely proud of our work together and our achievements.  It was an extraordinary period in my life with some amazing music making and I have wonderful memories of my times in Hanoi with my friends in VNSO”.