Published:  00:00 Wednesday - January 14, 2009

New York Philharmonic, the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States, will visit Vietnam for the first time during its Asian tour on October 8-28, 2010, announced by the orchestra’s board of director on January 12, 2009.

The Asian tour, part of the Philharmonic’s 2009-2010 season, will start with a gala concert in Tokyo, Japan, conducted by the orchestra’s music director Alan Gilbert. After Japan, the symphony orchestra will continue its journey to Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates.

In 2008, the symphony orchestra visited Pyongyang, the capital city of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), from February 26-28. Orchestra officials came up with the idea of travelling to Vietnam after the DPRK trip.

Apart from its Asian tour, New York Philharmonic is scheduled to tour Europe in January, 2010. The conductor, Alan Gilbert, now has a plan to attend the Stravinsky music festival from April 21 to May 8, 2010 with Russian conductor Valery Gergiev.

New York Philharmonic was established in 1842 and is one of the three most famous orchestras in the world, together with Vienna (Austria) and Berlin (Germany).