Published:  00:00 Friday - January 02, 2009

Vietnamese-Australian guitar virtuoso Le Hoang Minh, the first-prize winner of the 50th Tokyo International Guitar Competition, will perform with local musicians in HCM City and Hanoi beginning next week.

The guitar recital is being held to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Spanish guitar virtuoso and composer Fernando Sor (1778-1839).

Minh will play with local guitarists Tran Hoai Phuong, Nguyen Thanh Huy and Huynh Ba Tho.

Beside works written by Fernando Sor, compositions of the 19^th and 20^th century by Spanish musicians, including Moreno Torroba and Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco, will be performed.

The group will perform on January 5 at the Phu Nhuan Cultural Centre in HCM City and on January 13 at L’ Espace in Hanoi.

Minh has recently completed his first solo guitar album while Huy and Tho have issued their first duo guitar release. Phuong is preparing for his second solo album.

Minh graduated from the Canberra Music College with distinction, achieving the highest mark in the school’s history and is now a guitar lecturer there.

A member of the popular Australian quartet Guitar Trek, Minh is considered one of Australia’s most promising guitar talents.