November 14 at 7:30 p.m. – Betetto Hall – Kazina Palace – Academy of Music, Kongresni trg 1, Ljubljana

A NIGHT OF FAVORITE FILM MUSIC

in cooperation with the Academy of Music – University of Ljubljana

Chuong Vu, violin (Vietnam)

Denys Javorsky, piano (Ukraine)

Internationally renowned violinist Chuong Vu from Vietnam and pianist Denys Javorsky from Ukraine are performing in Slovenia for the first time as part of the Spectrum Festival!

PROGRAM

I. DANCES
„Carnival Morning“ from the film Black Orpheus (1959) …. Luiz Bonfa (1922–2001)
„Second Waltz“ from the film Eyes Wide Shut (1999) …. Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975)
„Chairman’s Waltz“ from the film Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) ….John Williams (r. 1932)
„Merry-Go-Round of Life“ from the film Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) …. Joe Hisaishi (r. 1950)
„Tango Por una Cabeza“ from the film Scent of a Woman (1992) …. Carlos Gardel (1890–1935)

II. LOVE
»Love Theme« from the film Cinema Paradiso (1988) ….Ennio Morricone (1946–2020) 
»A Time for Us« from the film Romeo in Julija (1968) …. Nino Rota (1911–1979) »Pathways of Love« from the film The Zone of Interest (2023) …. Francis Poulenc (1899–1963)
„Carrying You“ from the film Castle in the Sky (1986) …. Joe Hisaishi (r. 1950)
„Across the Stars“ from the film Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (2002) ….John Williams (r. 1932)

III. LIFE
„Cadenza and Fantasy“ from Fiddler on the Roof (1971) …. John Williams (r. 1932)
„Theme“ from The Way Station (2017) …. Nguyen Manh Duy Linh (r. 1980)
»A Transylvanian Lullaby« from the film Young Frankenstein (1974) ………. John Morris (1926–2018) 
»Main Theme« from the film Schindler’s List (1993) …. John Williams (r. 1932) „Tema“ from the film Ladies in Lavender (2004) …. Nigel Hess (r. 1953) „Fantasy“ from the film Ladies in Lavender (2004) ….Nigel Hess (r. 1953)

CHUONG VU, violin

Violinist Chuong Vu, praised by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Yehudi Wyner for his “exquisite playing,” has performed as a soloist, recitalist, chamber music collaborator, and concertmaster on five continents, including North and South America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia, with repertoire ranging from early baroque to modern. The Saigon Times notes that “Chuong Vu is an instrumentalist to treasure; Not only does he play with exquisite tone and superb technical virtuosity, but he also clearly loves the music and loves playing it.”

Chuong is a regular soloist with all major Vietnamese orchestras and has appeared as a guest soloist with symphony orchestras in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Turkey, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, and Taiwan, performing a wide range of concerto repertoire and popular works for violin and orchestra. Chuong, a dedicated chamber musician, has performed at numerous music festivals, including the Festival Internacional de Musica do Pará, Euro Music Festival and Academy, Yeosu Concert World Chamber Music International Festival, Massa Symphonic Festival, Boston Early Music Festival, Manchester Music Festival, and Vietnam Connection Music Festival. Among the notable collaborators in concerto and chamber music performances are Shlomo Mintz, Stephanie Chase, Nai-Yuan Hu, Kyung Sun Lee, Cynthia Roberts, Vilmos Szabadi, Chen Xi, Bui Cong Duy, Susan Dubois, Denis Shapovalov, Eugene Osadchy, Jeff Bradetich, Jean-Louis Haguenauer, Max Levinson, Christoph Hammer, and Paul Leenhouts. A prolific orchestral musician, Chuong has served as concertmaster of the San Angelo Symphony Orchestra and the VASCAM Ensemble. He has performed as a guest concertmaster with a number of symphony orchestras in the United States and abroad.

Chuong’s solo and chamber music performances have been broadcast live on Ho Chi Minh City Television, Vietnamese National Television, and Brazilian TV Cultura Canal 2. Further highlights include a solo performance of the U.S. National Anthem with the Open Classical Orchestra for an audience of more than 40,000 at the national-televised Texas Rangers game at the Globe Life Park in Arlington on July 29, 2016; appearances as the featured soloist with the HBSO Symphony Orchestra, performing the violin concertos by Barber and Sibelius at the special concerts to celebrate 20 years of the Vietnam-U.S. diplomatic relationship and 100 years of Finland’s Independence Day, respectively; a concert tour of 6 major cities in Vietnam in 2023 with pianist Maxime Zecchini in an official event organized by the French Institute in Vietnam to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship between Vietnam and France; and a special performance for the President of Vietnam and high ranking U.S. officials in a cultural event as a part of the 2024 United Nations General Assembly in New York; an appearance with the Osaka Symphony Orchestra in a concert commemorating the 80th anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day at the Fenice Sacay in Sakai (Japan) in 2025; and two performances as a part of the “Vietnam Day” at the EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan.

Chuong Vu holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Houston, an artist diploma and a doctorate from the University of North Texas. Currently a violin professor at the Euro Arts Academy, Dr. Vu has held teaching positions at the University of North Texas and the University of Texas at Arlington. He has given masterclasses in the U.S., Brazil, Germany, Poland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam. In 2019, he was the Deputy Chair of the Organizing Committee and a jury member at the Vietnam International Music Competition

for Violin and Chamber Music. In 2020, he was invited to join the pre-selection jury for the George Enescu International Competition (Romania). In 2023, he was a member of the jury for the X International Violin Competition “Astana-Violin” ‘In Memory of David Oistrakh’ in Kazakhstan.

Dr. Vu is the artistic director of the Vietnam Connection Music Festival and the artistic advisor to the Vietnam International Music Competition. He is actively involved in the process of finding new sponsorship for the organizations, creating music programs to be performed at the festival, inviting international artists to the festival, and judging the competition.

Denys Javorsky, Piano

Denys Javorsky studied piano at the School of Arts in Volochisk, Khmelnitsky (Ukraine) under Prof. T. Polishchuk, then at the Lysenko Special Music School in Kiev under Prof. N. Naidich, and at the P. I. Tchaikovsky National Music Academy in Ukraine under Prof. B. Arhimovich and Prof. N. Tolpyga.

He participated in master classes with V. Rudenko (Russia), E. Stefanski (Poland), and B. Bloch (Germany).

He is a winner of numerous national and international competitions.

As an accompanist, he has participated in various violin and singing competitions, including the B. Dvorionas International Competition (Vilnius), the N. Lysenko International Competition (Kiev),

the B. Hmyria International Singing Competition (Kiev), and the O. Krysa International Violin Competition (Lviv). His repertoire includes works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, SchubertSchumann, Liszt, Chopin, and Prokofiev.

Particularly noteworthy are his interpretations of Chopin’s Études, Op. 10, Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes, Franz Liszt’s piano concertos, Schumann’s symphonic études, Beethoven’s cello sonatas, Mozart’s “Mannheim” sonatas, Brahms’ violin sonatas, and Prokofiev’s violin sonatas.

Denis Javorsky has performed in major concert halls in Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Ireland, and China, among others.