'The Family of Western Classical String Instruments' event on Wednesday brought music lovers together in Ho Chi Minh City for an introduction to Western classical music with American violist Juliet White-Smith.

The exchange was held at the U.S. Consulate General's American Center in Ho Chi Minh City and White-Smith was joined in her chamber music performance by students from the Saigon Chamber Music program to introduce the audience to a wide range of Western chamber music melodies.

“I really want people to be excited about what Western classical music is and not be afraid to go to concerts because they haven’t experienced this style of music before,” White-Smith told Tuoi Tre News at the event.

“I hope this can be an open and safe environment so that people can ask questions and learn about the music. While they learn, they’ll probably realize they already know how to listen and that might give them confidence,” she added.

White-Smith, a professor of viola at Ohio State University, took care to showcase the similarities and differences between members of the string family, including the viola, violin, cello, and double bass.

“We want to focus on one group of instruments and give an intense amount of information with in-depth discussions about the materials,” she said.

Juliet White-Smith earned her doctor of musical arts degree from the Eastman School of Music and has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

She teaches master's-level classes at music conservatories in the U.S. and around the world and has published articles in American String Teacher and Journal of the American Viola Society.

Three Vietnamese students from the Saigon Chamber Music program, coached by Juliet White-Smith, perform at the exchange at the American Center in Ho Chi Minh City on August 17, 2016. Photo: Dong Nguyen/Tuoi Tre News

White-Smith is also the founder of the OSU-Vietnam Cultural Outreach Project, a program funded by a grant from the Office of International Affairs at Ohio State University, where she has served as professor of viola and chamber music since 2012.

The exchange was a sideline event during White-Smith’s trip to Vietnam to coach participants from the Saigon Chamber Music 2016 program, an annual music initiative aimed at gathering young talent from various countries.

“I love my Vietnamese students. They are open, generous, and kind,” White-Smith bragged about the local students in the program. “They will try anything, are very easy to work with, and are talented musicians.”

To White-Smith, the program is an opportunity to use music to bring people together.

“Even if there are verbal language barriers, there is no music language barrier,” she stated.

Founded in 2014, Saigon Chamber Music is the first summer music festival in Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam, inspired by the summer music festivals and academies in Europe and the United States, according to the organizers.

With a faculty of internationally acclaimed musicians and educators from the UK, the U.S. and Germany, Saigon Chamber Music provides a unique international access for gifted young artists as they begin their musical careers.

This year, the event hosts 31 young artists from Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar from August 9 to 22 in Ho Chi Minh City and the central city of Da Nang.

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