Pianist Bich Tra: Barriers are self-imposed

Every year, when pianist Bich Tra returns home twice a year - during Tet and summer - she always thinks about how to arrange her time to stay home and visit her mother - People's Artist Tra Giang. However, almost every time she returns home, she is "reprimanded" by her mother for "going out all the time", because the little time she has in Vietnam is always "taken up" by work schedules, from teaching, exchanges to classical music projects...

This past summer was no exception! However, Bich Tra shared that she was very happy because of those “busy” times! And of course, the mother who has always encouraged, sympathized, and sympathized with her daughter on every step of the way will also be very happy with her daughter’s “passion for the job”.

Photo: Bui Dzu

The desire to give...

One of the reasons that keeps Bich Tra in England until now, as she shared, is because there, she has the conditions and environment to realize all her passions, what she has been trained in. Returning to Vietnam to live with her mother, life will certainly be peaceful and calm, but as she once confided, she can only teach, so she can only do 1/3 of her ability. Meanwhile, her life is currently "very balanced between performing - recording - teaching". When everything is stable and steady, she can "choose what/job she likes to do". "For example, with performing, I can choose a program that I rarely repeat, only perform enough, to spend more time learning new things. Recording is the same, I spent nearly 5 years researching, to come to Joachim Raff's music , and now I need time to calm down, find myself a new "lesson", with other creations". As for teaching, Bich Tra said, it is both a passion and a responsibility. Because according to her, “success for an artist is not only about performance, but to put it politely, it is about how you “give” and pass on to society what you have received.”

	A balanced society must have parallel development between the practical (material) and creative (spiritual) parts. Music is an essential need in the spiritual life of every person. Therefore, it is necessary to review that up to now, music has not been a compulsory subject and is not considered as important as other subjects.

During her previous visits to the country, Bich Tra shared her desire to create a website to teach music, free of charge, to children. “To do this, we need a group of about 5 people, not only with knowledge but also with pedagogical methods, understanding children's language. Because music, although inherently attractive and alluring, must be made to make the lessons truly lively for children. If children in all countries are fascinated by Tom & Jerry, then we can also compose a musical story like a cartoon, for example, when introducing drums, there will be a rabbit beating the drum, then talking about rhythm, tempo, pitch... all in the most eye-catching and easy-to-understand way, so the children will surely love it,” she excitedly said.

This idea has probably been thought of by many passionate people like her, but to implement it is... not simple. So she is in dire need of cooperation, needs enough team to start. "I have given my email address in talks and lectures in Vietnam, and the website is also available, http://www.tranguyen.org/presski, if anyone is interested and shares this point of view, please contact me so we can implement it as soon as possible", Bich Tra said.

Everyone has music in them.

“Everyone has a sense of music, a musical seed in them, more or less, if we cannot develop it, we will be at a disadvantage. For a long time, people have been used to thinking that music is a gifted subject, it is okay to have it or not; but in fact, it is an important subject, helping to develop thinking ability. That is why in foreign countries, music is also a compulsory subject. Not only that, in many countries, schools also encourage students to learn music by saying that if they know two musical instruments, they will get extra points when taking the entrance exam to secondary school,” Bich Tra shared.

If at present, along with the passion for pursuing the chosen major, every young person needs to equip themselves with English to be able to access the outside world , then learning music is equally necessary, according to Bich Tra, because it helps to balance life. “A balanced society must have parallel development between the practical (material) and creative (spiritual) parts. Music is an essential need in the spiritual life of every person. Therefore, it is necessary to review that up to now, music is still not a compulsory subject and is not considered as important as other subjects,” she expressed.

During the past half month in Vietnam, Bich Tra had a talk about classical music, and she was very happy when the number of interested people came more than the expected number of seats, from all ages. After such talks, she "experienced" one thing, it seems that for a long time, people have set up their own prejudices and barriers, and then cannot overcome them. Because although the audience knows her as a classical music artist, and the topic of her talk also revolved around the enjoyment of classical music, few people expected the exchange to be so exciting. “I like the way people approach music like that, naturally and comfortably, regardless of age, regardless of Western or Vietnamese music… This innocent interest reminds me of a story I read somewhere, about a violin-playing village in a northern province of my country. I was really impressed when reading this story. I think this is a convincing proof that the barrier is all in one’s mindset. I repeat this because I want to share again, everyone has the ability to perceive music, if they are learned and educated from a young age, it will always be better, whoever has talent will develop more deeply. Therefore, while we are still waiting for the day when music is included in formal education, encouraging our children to come to music, as early as possible, is something worth paying attention to”, Bich Tra confided.

This year, Bich Tra has released two solo piano CDs with works by Joachim Raff - (Piano Works Vol.1 & Vol.2), under contract with Naxos (February, June). These two CDs are part of the inaugural series of Naxos' Grand Piano label, which specializes in piano works by talented but little-known composers, bringing together excellent performers from many parts of the world, and is positioned as a high-end product line. Bich Tra said that the third album will be introduced next November.

The column Creativity for Vietnamese Aspiration introduces portraits of Trung Nguyen's friends, regardless of age, background, domestic or foreign, etc. They are people who are tirelessly creating day and night in their professional fields, contributing their brains and energy, spreading the flame of aspiration, inspiring Vietnamese youth, arousing the desire to compete with the world, devoting themselves and creating for a powerful Vietnam.

Nguyen Van

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Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nghe-si-piano-bich-tra-rao-can-la-do-minh-tu-nghi-ra-18553460.htm