On the evening of December 28, 2024, the Vietnam National Academy of Music will organize a special concert "The sound of the piano still resonates" to commemorate Artist and People's Teacher Thai Thi Lien, one of the 7 founding members of the Vietnam Music School (now the Vietnam National Academy of Music), the first and longest-serving head teacher of the Piano department of the school.
She is also the mother of People's Artist Dang Thai Son and People's Artist, People's Teacher Tran Thu Ha - not only the country's leading pianists but also international artists. She is the master of teachers, the most important pianists of the Vietnam National Academy of Music.
This is evidenced by the fact that at the press conference about the program, there was the participation of the country's leading artists: People's Artist Do Quoc Hung, Deputy Director in charge of the Vietnam National Academy of Music; People's Artist Bui Cong Duy - Deputy Director of the Academy; Associate Professor, Dr. Pianist Nguyen Huy Phuong - Chairman of the Academy Council; Dr. Pianist Dao Trong Tuyen - Head of the Piano Department of the Academy...
At the press conference, artists Nguyen Huy Phuong and Dao Trong Tuyen said that they were not students directly from People's Artist Thai Thi Lien, but were students of her daughter, People's Artist Tran Thu Ha, but the influence of Ms. Thai Thi Lien was very great. And the concert was an opportunity for them to perform very difficult pieces of music to pay tribute to a great artist, a great tree that has influenced many generations of piano artists in Vietnam. As for People's Artist Do Quoc Hung or People's Artist Bui Cong Duy, the Academy's organization of a concert not only paid tribute to the master of their teachers, but also was a way to preserve and continue a valuable legacy of the Vietnam National Academy of Music.
People's Artist, People's Artist Thai Thi Lien was born on August 4, 1918 into a prestigious intellectual family in Saigon. Her father was engineer Thai Van Lan, one of the first Vietnamese engineers to graduate in France. Her sister was Thai Thi Lang, the first Vietnamese composer and pianist to graduate from the Paris Conservatory of Music in both performance and composition. Her brother was lawyer Thai Van Lung, a member of the first National Assembly, a martyr who died in 1946 and his name was given to a street in the center of Ho Chi Minh City.
She studied piano from the age of 4 at a French convent school and elementary school for 7 years. From the age of 11, while studying at Marie Curie High School, she entered the professional path with Ms. Armande Caron, who won the first prize in piano at the Paris Conservatory, a student of Professor Isidore Philipp of the Paris Conservatory, who won the first prize in piano performance in 1883.
As an excellent student of Armande Caron, at the age of 16 she had her public debut performance at Saigon City Hall.
In 1946, she went to France with the intention of continuing her higher studies in music, but with the historical events of Vietnam, she left Paris for Prague in 1948 and studied piano performance at the Prague Conservatory, one of the oldest music schools in Europe. She graduated with honors in 1951 from Professor Ema Dolezalóva's class with a large performance program including works by D. Scarlatti, JS Bach, LV Beethoven and B. Smetana.
In late 1951, she followed her husband to Viet Bac to join the resistance and work at the Central Art Troupe. In early 1954, she joined the Peace Choir in Shanghai, China, recording programs to be broadcast on the radio when the capital was taken over that fall. In late 1955, she and singer Minh Do went to Czechoslovakia to record with Supraphon the first music disc of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
In November 1956, she was one of the seven musicians who founded the Vietnam Music School and was the first Head of the Piano Department until her retirement in 1977. During more than 20 years of association, including the war years and the difficult and deprived evacuation areas, she compiled programs, textbooks, trained and coached the first lecturers, and directly trained many generations of lecturers and piano artists. Many of them have become famous artists, musicians, and teachers such as Nguyen Huu Tuan, Hoang My, Phuong Chi, Tuyet Minh, Kim Dung, Tran Thu Ha, and Do Hong Quan. The most prominent among them is Dang Thai Son, her youngest son, who was the first Asian to win first prize at the Chopin International Piano Competition.
In addition to her teaching career, she has been constantly active in performing. She was the first to perform recitals in Hanoi in the late 1950s, and participated in concerts with experts from the former Soviet Union such as Professor Khodjaev (violin) and Fedoshenko (violin) at the Hanoi and Hai Phong Opera Houses. She performed not only in large, brightly lit auditoriums, but also in moonlit concerts in the courtyard of the evacuation cooperative, such as thematic nights with Chopin works or the Weber Trio concert with Professors Vu Huong (violin) and Le Bich (flute).
Since the early 80s, she has accompanied and shared with her famous son a life full of travel, from Europe, Asia, and America. At the end of 2013, she returned to live in Hanoi, to be with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
She often said that she was a very happy mother whose only assets in life were her children. In addition to People's Artist Dang Thai Son, there was also a daughter, another famous "former student" of hers: Professor, Doctor, People's Artist Tran Thu Ha - former Head of the Piano Department, former Director of the Academy of Music, Hero of Labor in the Renovation Period. And Tran Thanh Binh, although not pursuing a musical career, still left his mark at the Academy of Music as an architect, the author of the design of the entire new facility and the Modern Concert Hall.
As a grandmaster of pianists, her life is an example of training and performing. At the age of one hundred and odd, her daily activities are still very busy and rich: gathering with her children and grandchildren, going to nature, going to the forest, going to the sea, admiring flowers, looking at paintings, attending events, giving interviews, following the Chopin Competition live in 2015 and 2021, chatting online with her children and grandchildren far away. She still regularly attends concerts, practices piano, teaches and goes on the big stage in programs celebrating the 50th and 60th anniversaries of the Vietnam National Academy of Music and the Concert honoring her "One Hundred Golden Autumns" in November 2017.
She passed away on January 31, 2023, and according to her will, People's Artist Dang Thai Son bid farewell to his mother with the music of the Funeral March by Federic Chopin.
Her life is a legend, and that legend has been written with a rare record: an artist over a century old still teaching and performing. She is not only the mother of three children but also the mother and legendary teacher of many generations of Vietnamese pianists.
The music night “The sound of the piano still resonates forever” with the participation of lecturers and artists of the Piano Department of the Vietnam Academy of Music, representing generations of lecturers and students of the department. From the first generation of students who learned from her directly, now in their 80s, such as Meritorious Artist Kim Dung and Meritorious Artist Tuyet Minh, to the younger generations - key lecturers of the Department today, students of students such as Dr. Dao Trong Tuyen, Head of the Department, Associate Professor. Dr. Nguyen Huy Phuong, Chairman of the Academy Council... From students - children such as Professor, People's Artist Tran Thu Ha to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, the sounds of the piano resonate endlessly. In particular, part II of the program is a special gift from People's Artist Dang Thai Son to his mother with her favorite songs.
The music night had the participation of People's Artist Dang Thai Son; People's Artist Tran Thu Ha; People's Artist Ngo Van Thanh; Meritorious Artist Kim Dung, Meritorious Artist Tuyet Minh, Dr. Dao Trong Tuyen, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Huy Phuong and artists: Nguyen Hoang Phuong, Luu Duc Anh, Tu My, Huong Giang, Trinh Huong, Linh Chi, Thu Nga, Dang Quang...
Source: https://daidoanket.vn/nghe-si-nha-giao-nhan-dan-thai-thi-lien-me-cua-nhung-nghe-si-lon-thay-cua-nhung-nguoi-thay-10297404.html
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