Classical music seen through very young faces

People's Artist Bui Cong Duy - Deputy Director of Vietnam National Academy of Music congratulated the VNAMYO Youth Symphony Orchestra after the performance.

Two young violinists

Among the artists performing on the evening of August 17, there were many young soloists with admirable techniques for their age, proving that they had studied seriously and practiced hard for many years to be able to perform impressively and confidently. Among them were Nguyen Vu Truong Giang, born in 2012, and Duong Duc Minh, born in 2011. The two boys were only 12-13 years old, but they performed very confidently on stage in black suits and shiny leather shoes when performing Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in A minor RV 522.

Nguyen Vu Truong Giang - a third-year violin student at the Vietnam National Academy of Music, participated in the 2024 New Year Concert to welcome the diplomatic delegation, chaired by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. He won first prize in the A violin category at the Vietnam National Music Competition in 2023 and was honored to be one of 87 outstanding artists and actors at the ceremony to honor outstanding artists and some outstanding books in the fields of performing arts and literature in 2023.

Duong Duc Minh is currently a violin student of the 4/9 intermediate level under the instruction of lecturer Meritorious Artist Duong Minh Chinh. During his studies, Minh performed solo with the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra (VNSO) and won second prize in the National Autumn Music Competition - 2023 as a violin soloist.

Very young to stand in the position of solo artist

A generation of talented artists has emerged.

Tran Trung Hieu also attracted attention in the program with his impressive achievements. Born in 2006, he is a 4/4 intermediate violin student, joined the VNAMYO Orchestra in May 2022 and is currently performing as the 1st violin of the orchestra. In April, Hieu joined the WYO World Youth Symphony Orchestra in the project Sound of Brotherhood and performed with the Hanoi Symphony Orchestra in the reception to welcome Russian President Putin in June 2024.

Many solo artists performing on the evening of August 17 at the Vietnam National Academy of Music were only 15-16 years old but extremely confident. Among them, Nguyen Nguyen Le - born in 2008, a student of People's Artist Bui Cong Duy, impressed with his skillful violin playing technique and confidence when playing Concerto for Violin No.1 in G minor, Op.26 by Max Bruch.

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Established and laid the foundation in the 70s and 80s of the last century, the Youth Symphony Orchestra of the Vietnam National Academy of Music (VNAMYO) has been operating again since 2022 and has become an Orchestra with annual activities for students. The Academy orients VNAMYO to become a place with an open, close, practical, friendly, sharing environment, with enough quality standards so that all students can easily communicate, express their creative talents and make their dreams come true. VNAMYO is trained by a team of experienced lecturers and artists from the Vietnam National Academy of Music. VNAMYO organizes periodic auditions every 2 months for students aged 10 and above who are studying Western musical instruments, have the ability and desire to participate in performing in the Orchestra. In recent years, under the leadership of two young conductors Dong Quang Vinh and Tran Nhat Minh, the Orchestra has had outstanding concerts, regularly performing with famous domestic and international professional artists.

Le Hoang Ngoc Minh also had an impressive solo performance in the music night with the famous Viola Concerto in G major by George Telemann. Le Hoang Ngoc Minh was born in 2007, is a final year student of the Intermediate Viola program at the Vietnam National Academy of Music and has won many prestigious awards. The 17-year-old girl is a member of the Sunshine Strings Quartet, has performed with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra WYO and performed at many important events of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and General Secretary - President To Lam.

One of the impressive performances of the night was the collaboration between Truong Bao Anh and Cao Hoang Linh with the Concerto for 2 Violins in A minor, RV522, mov. I. Truong Bao Anh is currently a 7/9 student majoring in Strings at the Vietnam National Academy of Music. In 2023, Bao Anh won second prize in the National Autumn Music Competition and performed with the World Youth Orchestra WYO 2024. She was selected to perform at the reception welcoming President Putin to Vietnam in June 2024.

Cao Hoang Linh was born in 2006 in Moscow, a student of People's Artist - Honorary Professor of the National University of Arts of Kazakhstan Bui Cong Duy at the Vietnam National Academy of Music. Cao Hoang Linh received the "Young Talent of Vietnamese Classical Music" award at the age of 10, performing in the "Introducing Young Talents" program of the Vietnam Connection Music Festival in Hanoi, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City. In particular, Hoang Linh was honored to be invited to perform at the Royal Albert Hall and in Poland as one of the 5 most outstanding winners in the history of the Ginastera competition.

Impressive group of friends

The combination of Oboe - Clarinet - Horn - Bassoon by 4 artists Nguyen My Trang - Van Thanh Long - Vu Tuan Nam - Pham Thanh Lam in the work ''Sinfonia Concertante for winds K297b, mov. I'' is also extremely unique.

Nguyen My Trang is currently a university student under the guidance of Associate Professor, Dr. Ngo Phuong Dong. Since her intermediate years, Trang has achieved many achievements such as: In 2019, solo with the Sun Symphony Orchestra, in the same year Trang was honored to be one of 6 students to perform with the London Chamber Orchestra; Silver Prize Rising Star International Competition 2023 with the 6th Floor Woodwind Quintet; Second Prize Concour Fall 2023 in the ensemble category (no first prize); Silver Prize Crescendo International Music Festival & Competition 2024 with 6th Floor Woodwind Quintet; Third Prize Gold Star International Music Competition 2024 with trio Clarinet, Piano in Malaysia.

Van Thanh Long is currently studying Clarinet under the instruction of Dr. Tran Khanh Quang. Long has performed with many symphony orchestras. In 2023, Long attended the 12th China - ASEAN Music Festival in Nanning, China with the Vietnam National Orchestra. Long has won many awards such as the Silver Prize of Rising Star International Competition in 2023 with the 6th Floor Woodwind Quintet; Silver Prize of Crescendo International Music Festival & Competition 2024 with the 6th Floor Woodwind Quintet; Third Prize of Gold Star International Music Competition 2024 with Oboe and Piano trio in Malaysia; Second Prize of the 2023 Autumn Concour Competition in the ensemble category (no first prize).

Vu Tuan Nam became interested in the Cor at the age of 10. From then on, under the guidance of Master. Meritorious Artist Pham Quoc Chung, Nam decided to pursue the Cor professionally. He first performed in a symphony orchestra in 2019 in the program celebrating the 100th birthday of musician Nguyen Van Thuong, performing with many orchestras such as Hanoi Philharmonic Orchestra, VNAM Youth Orchestra, Vietnam Youth Orchestra, Tram Chia Chia, etc. Nam won the Silver Prize of Rising Star International Competition in 2023 with the group 6th Floor Woodwind Quintet; Silver Prize of Crescendo International Music Festival & Competition 2024 with 6th Floor Woodwind Quintet.

Pham Thanh Lam has been playing the Bassoon since 2018 under the guidance of Master Doan Thanh Tung. He has performed in programs such as Concert of Childhood Memory 2023: A leap of Faith, From Bethoven to Rachmaninoff with the Hong Kong Orchestra; Silver Prize of Rising Star International Competition 2023 with the 6th Floor Woodwind Quintet; Silver Prize of Crescendo International Music Festival & Competition 2024 with the 6th Floor Woodwind Quintet; Second Prize of the Fall Concour 2023 in the ensemble category (no first prize). The performance program on the evening of August 17 was diversely edited with concertos from the baroque to the end of the romantic period by famous composers such as: A. Vivaldi, G. Telemann, J. Haydn, W. Mozart, E. Grieg, M. Bruch...

A new generation of talented artists

The event on the evening of August 17th was also important in introducing a new generation of extremely talented artists who will contribute to creating a future picture of the country's classical music scene. Conductor Dong Quang Vinh shared his excitement because the program's repertoire included all very difficult but very famous works. The conductor, born in 1984, highly appreciated the young members of the orchestra because they were young but had participated in many performances.

People's Artist Bui Cong Duy - Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Academy of Music expressed his emotion when seeing the maturity of many students. He said: "This music night is expected by many generations of lecturers of the string and trumpet departments of the school because it marks a milestone to introduce students with outstanding talents to help them perform with the Symphony Orchestra soon. 3 years ago, when the VNAMYO Youth Symphony Orchestra was restored, many students were playing music with their feet not touching the floor, and their techniques were still immature. At that time, we just determined to try to maintain practice and have the opportunity to play music every quarter or every month, which was already very happy.

With the support of the school, parents and classical music lovers, performances like this one are organized. This is a community activity because instead of the students only going to grade 1 with a teacher and a student, on occasions like this they will be able to play in an orchestra. They will learn from the teacher, conductor, friends and listen to many other musical instruments. Hopefully through these performances, the students will have many opportunities to show their strengths and abilities so that we can find new factors so that in addition to helping them play music in the orchestra, they can also become potential solo artists in the future.

Conductor Dong Quang Vinh.

Conductor Dong Quang Vinh was born in 1984. Born into a traditional musical family, Dong Quang Vinh is able to play many traditional musical instruments fluently and has represented his country many times on major international stages. In September 2004, Dong Quang Vinh was sent by the Vietnam National Academy of Music to study abroad at the undergraduate level, majoring in Orchestra Conducting at the Conducting Department, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, China. In 2010, after graduating from university with the highest score of the entire course, he continued to pass the entrance exam for the Master's degree to continue studying Orchestra Conducting, and at the same time received the highest full scholarship from the Chinese Government National Scholarship Fund for the most outstanding international students. After 9 years of studying and working in Shanghai, in July 2013, Dong Quang Vinh graduated with a Master's degree in Orchestra Conducting with the highest score of the entire course and returned to serve the country.

In Vietnam, he is currently holding the following roles: Orchestra Conductor, Lecturer of Orchestra Conducting - Faculty of Ly Sang Chi - Vietnam National Academy of Music.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/nhac-bac-hoc-nhin-tu-nhung-guong-mat-rat-tre-10288950.html