Golden Bell of Traditional Opera: 20-year journey of "keeping the fire" of reformed opera

The 20th Golden Bell Contest in 2025 has begun recording the Selection round with 32 contestants from many provinces and cities. The contest is one of the traditional art activities with the goal of finding and nurturing young talents in the field of Cai Luong theater.

Professional Journey

After 19 years of operation and development, Golden Bell of Vong Co has truly become a familiar program for audiences who love vong co melodies and cai luong songs; a playground for the young generation to appreciate, inherit and expand the vong co singing and don ca tai tu movements. The program is also considered a practical activity to honor the art of don ca tai tu and traditional cai luong stage art.

The Golden Bell of Traditional Opera is also considered a cradle for many young artists to have the opportunity and support to enter the profession. Coming out of the competition, many contestants have chosen to follow the path of professional art, striving to contribute their talents and strength to the art of amateur singing and reformed opera. Among them, many artists have made their mark in the profession, receiving the love of the audience, such as: Vo Minh Lam, Ho Ngoc Trinh, Nguyen Ngoc Doi, Vo Thanh Phe, Tran Thi Thu Van, Bui Trung Dang, Nguyen Van Meo, Nguyen Thi Luan, Nguyen Minh Truong, Nguyen Van Khoi...; some have received the noble titles of Meritorious Artist and People's Artist.

The Organizing Committee, the Jury and the artists who participated and won the Golden Bell of Traditional Music Competition at the introduction of the 20th competition season in 2025

Through each season, the organizing committee has made efforts to find new and attractive models, helping to increase the competitiveness of talent among contestants, promoting the singing and performing abilities of young people. In addition, the competition also expands interactive activities between the judges, the coaching board and the contestants, between the contestants and the audience... to create attraction for the program, contributing to maintaining the activities of the traditional national art form to be sustainable and developed.

After 19 seasons, despite many difficulties in terms of economy , human resources, and source of candidates for the entrance exam, Golden Bell of Traditional Opera has always been one of the art programs loved by a large audience, an art brand imbued with the cultural identity of the South of Ho Chi Minh City Television, contributing effectively to the work of searching, selecting, and providing short-term training for many young artists.

Many exciting innovations

The 20th Golden Bell Contest officially kicked off in May 2025 with an audition round with 176 contestants. After the preliminary round, 32 contestants with good voices entered the Selection round, which took place from July 22 to 25 at the Ho Chi Minh City Television Theater. The Selection sessions will be broadcast on August 3, 10, 17 and 24, 2025.

This year, the Selection round has been renewed, in each competition night, 8 contestants are divided into 4 teams to compete in pre-determined cai luong excerpts. 9 outstanding contestants will enter the final round, taking place on Sunday evenings in September 2025. In addition, this year's competition also has additional sideline activities, where contestants exchange and perform art to serve the community, military units, students, etc.

The composition of the jury and coaching board of this year's competition is also considered innovative with the combination of veteran artists, such as: People's Artist Thanh Nam, People's Artist Trong Phuc, People's Artist Phuong Loan, Meritorious Artist Thoai My, Meritorious Artist Kim Phuong, artist Chi Tam... with young artists who became famous from the competition itself, such as: Ho Ngoc Trinh, Vo Minh Lam, Nguyen Ngoc Doi. With the experience of the previous generation and the youthful, contemporary qualities of the young artists, the program promises to help the contestants progress through each competition night, promoting their abilities and passion for traditional theater.

Another special feature of this year's competition is the increased prize value with the Golden Bell being 150 million VND, the Silver Bell receiving 80 million VND and the Bronze Bell receiving 50 million VND, higher than in 2024 at only 100, 50 and 30 million VND.

On the evening of August 31, the Gala Golden Bell of Traditional Opera will take place at Nguyen Hue Walking Street and the Ho Chi Minh City Television Theater. The program will be carried out in the form of a television bridge connecting the two locations, introducing to the audience and tourists the beauty of traditional Vietnamese Cai Luong art.

This is also a program to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution (August 19, 1945 - August 19, 2025) and the National Day of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (September 2, 1945 - September 2, 2025).

THUY BINH

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/chuong-vang-vong-co-hanh-trinh-20-nam-giu-lua-cai-luong-post805327.html