We were honoured to take part in celebrations organised by the British Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh with the British Embassy in Hanoi to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between the UK and Vietnam. The main event in HCMC being the ‘UK Festival’ to showcase the best of everything British. The bond between the UK and Vietnam is going from strength to strength with education being one of their core themes to mark this important 50th anniversary. We were delighted to be involved and strengthen our already strong partnership with the British Consulate here in Ho Chi Minh City.
As part of the celebrations, we received a visit to our school from the Band of The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, we spent a day at the UK Festival greeting families and running activities for children and then watched on in awe as our student bands, Lobster Bisque, Disbanded and Thy Tumbling Pebbles took the stage by storm in the heart of our city!
On Friday 15th September we welcomed the Military band to our school. These talented musicians, some of whom perform also with the Lancashire Artillery band and 103 Regiment RA Pipers and Drums, gave inspirational workshops and performances to groups of our Secondary and Primary students.
The band have been visiting Vietnam since the start of the month and performed at both the UK Festival in Hanoi and in HCMC over the weekend as well as at the Opera House in HCMC. We thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to spend a morning with us. A big thank you to Ian Alexander, our Director of Music, for his support in arranging this special and unique morning.
On Saturday 16th September three of our incredible bands, Lobster Bisque, Disbanded, and Thy Tumbling Pebbles took to the stage at the UK Festival to give outstanding performances to hundreds of people. With hits from Muse to Oasis and classics Hey Jude and While My Guitar Gently Weeps from the Beatles, they certainly impressed the crowd! What an honour for our students to perform on such a large stage in the heart of the city to mark such an important occasion and celebrate the 50-year milestone of diplomatic relations between the UK and Vietnam.
Mr Ian Alexander, Director of Music at BIS HCMC, supported our students throughout and expressed his thoughts afterwards; ‘We are very proud of our students who worked very hard to learn all the new British songs they performed. It was a fantastic opportunity for the students to play on such a huge festival stage with full sound and lights system. They certainly did rise to the occasion and embraced every moment’.
We also hosted a BIS booth in the action of the festival area where we welcomed hundreds of families and ran activities for children. A huge thank you to all of our admissions and marketing staff for running the booth and to all of our staff and parents who came along to support.