Spreading the heritage of Southern amateur music

The 3rd National Don Ca Tai Tu Festival in 2022 took place in Can Tho from April 7 to 11, organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in coordination with the People's Committee of Can Tho City. After nearly a week of opening, the festival attracted special attention from Can Tho people as well as people in the West with special programs from 21 southern provinces and cities.

Exchange of artists with fans

In the evening at Binh Thuy Square (Binh Thuy District, Can Tho City), 21 amateur music spaces from provinces and cities are always crowded with visitors and exchangers. Sitting engrossed in listening to the amateurs perform, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thuan (residing in Cai Rang District, Can Tho City) shared: "For the past few days, every night I have come here to listen and sing and exchange with troupes, meeting amateurs from everywhere. Thanks to that, I have learned many good things."

Trinh Ngoc Thuy Nga, 15 years old, Ho Chi Minh City troupe and her sister Trinh Ngoc Thuy Ngan, 9 years old (right cover), participated in the performance at the Don Ca Tai Tu space.

Also present at the festival over the past few days, Ms. Ngoc Mai, a music enthusiast in Binh Thuy District, said: “It is very difficult for people to have opportunities to sing and exchange, to satisfy their passion like at this festival. Everyone enjoys the exchange because each space of traditional music has its own local characteristics and gathers the best people.”

The lyrics, singing, and skillful playing of the artists are even more captivating when performed in spaces that recreate the unique features of each locality. Can Tho reconstructs the unique Binh Thuy ancient house; Ninh Thuan with its beautiful vineyards; Vinh Long with its thatched houses and green-skinned grapefruit trees; Long An with its traditional musical instruments…

The most special program at the festival was the Don Ca Tai Tu Art Competition with the participation of 500 artists from 21 southern provinces and cities. The competition brought to music lovers rich and quality repertoires of to, ca ra bo, vong co, and dan ensembles... In particular, the careful investment of the troupes in content, setting, costumes, and props created the unique flavors of each locality. The host Can Tho with the program Can Tho in harmony with the South transformed the stage into a floating market with boats carrying flowers, agricultural products, and typical beo trees; the Dong Thap troupe stood out with the image of pink lotus...

New vitality of amateur music

Meritorious Artist - Master Huynh Khai, former Head of the Faculty of Music - Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music, Head of the Jury of the Don Ca Tai Tu Art Competition, said that the special thing about the 3rd National Don Ca Tai Tu Festival is that it attracted the participation of many young artists, some of whom are only in 2nd grade. "That shows that projects contributing to preserving, promoting and passing on the Don Ca Tai Tu profession to the young generation in localities are gradually reaping success," said Mr. Khai.

The 3rd Don Ca Tai Tu Festival attracted a large number of young people to participate.

Dinh Tuyen

The young force that inherited the festival has truly brought new vitality to the traditional music. At the competition, the audience and music lovers were surprised to see little Như Ý (9 years old, from the Can Tho troupe) participating in the performance of Anh Hai Tai Tu with Meritorious Artist Truong Ut and Meritorious Artist Ai Hang; or the children Diem My (13 years old, from the Tay Ninh troupe), Lam Gia Hung (14 years old, from the Dong Thap troupe), Trinh Ngoc Thuy Nga (15 years old, from the Ho Chi Minh City troupe)...

In particular, the Binh Phuoc troupe, in addition to the official band, also has a supporting band of 6 children aged 10-17 with instruments such as guitar, zither, zither, co, bau, and tu. The young artists played the instruments confidently and professionally for the competition performances. The young artists' confident playing, clear but steady singing, and good coordination with their co-performers brought a new breeze and youthfulness to the competition and festival.

It can be said that, through the passing down of the profession from generation to generation, family training “furnaces” are still the pillars and the most basic environment to nurture talented artists. Thanks to that, the amateur music movement is still maintained and developed.

According to composer Nham Hung, a researcher on amateur music, the vitality of amateur music is always strong when the practice environment is increasingly expanding, partly satisfying the passion of connoisseurs. However, there will still be a lot of work to do to preserve this art form when the practice environment of amateur music is becoming less and less attractive, along with the gradual decline of professional artists.

“For example, according to convention, the amateur orchestra must have 3-4 instruments, but in reality, most only have a guitar with a concave fret, and at most, a lute… The lack of instruments, the decline of amateurs, combined with the hybrid style of amateur singing and reformed opera, has caused the original value to fade, showing that the risk of extinction is real,” said composer Nham Hung. However, according to Mr. Hung, one hopeful thing is that since amateur singing was recognized by UNESCO, the cultural sector of localities has made efforts to find ways to preserve and promote this art form. Events such as the National Amateur Music Festival will be the foundation for preserving and honoring the historical and artistic values and transmitting and spreading the heritage of amateur singing.

Speaking at the 3rd National Don Ca Tai Tu Festival in 2022, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung suggested: In the coming time, 21 provinces and cities in the Southeast and Southwest regions need to continue to effectively implement the national action program on preserving and promoting the art of Don Ca Tai Tu in the South; improve the quality and develop the Don Ca Tai Tu movement in localities to meet the cultural and spiritual enjoyment needs of all classes of people.

In particular, it is necessary to do a good job of promoting the art of Don Ca Tai Tu on the media and applying information technology; research to have policies to support artisans to further promote the preservation of identity and pass on the passion to future generations.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lan-toa-di-san-don-ca-tai-tu-nam-bo-1851447415.htm