Young people should have in their luggage a few verses of traditional music and vọng cổ.

“I think young people, especially students majoring in Tourism, need to have in their luggage a few verses of traditional folk music, vọng cổ, a few verses are fine. That is the capital left by our ancestors for us to exploit the cultural resources of the delta in a unique way,” said researcher Nham Hung, receiving a long round of applause from teachers and students of Nam Can Tho University.

Researcher Nham Hung and Meritorious Artist Kieu Nga interact with teachers and students of Nam Can Tho University. Photo: DUY KHOI

The exchange session introducing Don Ca Tai Tu by two speakers, researcher Nham Hung and Meritorious Artist Kieu Nga at Nam Can Tho University, started with heavy rain and high tides flooding many streets of the city, but more than 200 students still showed up very early, filling the auditorium. The presentation and sharing about Don Ca Tai Tu by the two speakers quickly "heated up" the program, especially when Meritorious Artist Kieu Nga demonstrated smooth and soulful Don Ca Tai Tu songs. Joining in the atmosphere of Don Ca Tai Tu, the students asked many interesting questions about Don Ca Tai Tu for the speakers to answer. Many students even volunteered to sing Don Ca Tai Tu to add to the fun. There are some very good questions like this: “We students listen to traditional music and vọng cổ and they sound similar, we cannot tell the difference. Can the speaker point out the most distinctive difference between these two genres?”, or “Can the speaker introduce the musical instruments used in traditional music?”…

Thach Thi Minh Chau, a final year student majoring in Tourism , boldly raised the issue at the exchange session: "In my opinion, we should bring Don Ca Tai Tu into schools, especially in the fields of Tourism and Culture, which is very necessary for students." This suggestion was well received by researcher Nham Hung. He excitedly said that such creative and dedicated thoughts from young people will help Don Ca Tai Tu have a more lasting vitality. Minh Chau shared: "The program is very good and practical, helping me understand more about Don Ca Tai Tu and can apply it to my future studies and career." Cao Anh Thu, a student at Nam Can Tho University, shared the same thought: "This is a very good way to promote the Don Ca Tai Tu heritage. When the artist started singing, I felt very proud."

For Meritorious Artist Kieu Nga, although she has experience in practicing and teaching amateur music in Can Tho City, when participating in the program, she had very special feelings. That is because the students were excited, cheered enthusiastically, asked many passionate questions, through which she loved amateur music more and felt her responsibility was greater. Indeed, from demonstrating what is Bac, Oan, Nam Ai, Nam Xuan, Nam Dao, then Dao Ngu Cung, to vong co..., Meritorious Artist Kieu Nga made the audience burst into applause. Meritorious Artist Kieu Nga said: "I am very happy and also very glad that young people today still love amateur music very much".

This is the second exchange session at the school of researcher Nham Hung and Meritorious Artist Kieu Nga. Before that, the exchange session at Can Tho College of Tourism was equally exciting and engaging. Hundreds of students and many teachers sat in attendance from the beginning to the end of the program, focused on listening to the speakers' presentations, and asked many good questions. The academic atmosphere and love for heritage were blended together throughout the program.

Researcher Nham Hung shared that he did not expect the two recent programs to be so successful. This also gave him a new idea about promoting cultural heritage in general, and traditional music in particular, to young people, as a way to preserve and promote the value of cultural heritage in the modern context. Once young people can "see with their own eyes, hear with their own ears, touch with their own hands" and feel the beauty of the heritage from the practitioners themselves, the lessons taught will have much more weight. With students majoring in Tourism, Mr. Nham Hung likened: "If you work in tourism in the Mekong Delta, no matter what you say, you cannot escape traditional music." He emphasized that traditional music and traditional music need to be in the luggage of young people, not only as "capital" to exploit but also as pride in everyone's heart.

DANG HUYNH

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/can-co-trong-hanh-trang-tuoi-tre-vai-cau-don-ca-tai-tu-vong-co-a192334.html