"Thanh" is like the sound of a zither...

(VHQN) - Nguyen Ngoc Thien Thanh possesses a skillful, graceful, and captivating playing style... Strangely enough, Thanh is only passionately devoted to the zither.

Thien Thanh with her zither.

Thanh is very young. She was born in 2009 and is currently a 10th-grade student in Cam Kim, Hoi An. She says she has loved traditional music since she was a child.

My mother, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuong Van, recounted: “When she was little, she was fascinated by folk songs and kept asking me to take her to the Old Quarter to listen to the singers perform Bài Chòi. In the third grade, she asked to join a folk song class in the Old Quarter at night taught by Ms. Ngoc Hue and Mr. Duong Quy… and she began to fall in love with the sound of the bầu instrument from then on…”

When she was in fourth grade, Thanh once confided in her mother, "Mom, I'm so fascinated by the sound of the bầu (a traditional Vietnamese string instrument), I wish I could touch it…!"

Ms. Tuong Vy understood her son's passion very well. Unfortunately, their family was struggling financially. But unable to resist her son's love for the zither, Ms. Van was determined to do everything she could to ensure Thanh could learn to play it.

Fortunately, a friend of hers connected her with Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Trung, a lecturer at the Da Nang College of Culture and Arts. Mr. Trung agreed to teach Thanh free of charge. From then on, the boy's dream became a reality.

Teacher Nguyen Ngoc Trung said that after only two months of learning, Thanh had already shown a talent for the zither. "She grasps the lessons very quickly, listening to the sounds of the instrument as if listening to the rhythm of her own heartbeat, loving and being captivated by it..." - said Teacher Trung.

And after only two months of studying the zither, Thanh won an encouragement prize in a young talent search competition organized by Hoi An City. This initial success further motivated the boy to dedicate himself to traditional Vietnamese music.

To date, Nguyen Ngoc Thien Thanh has studied traditional Vietnamese musical instruments for six years with teacher Nguyen Ngoc Trung and has become proficient in playing instruments such as the bầu lute, tơ-rưng zither, and mèo flute…

Thien Thanh at a youth talent competition in Da Nang City.

With her musical talent, Thanh applied to join a band playing traditional Vietnamese instruments on a cruise ship between Da Nang and Hue to entertain tourists. The sweet, poignant, and lingering sounds of Thien Thanh's tơ-rưng and bầu instruments, like the melodious murmur of a flowing stream, greatly delighted foreign visitors.

I have also achieved considerable success with the bầu instrument in music competitions, from the Young Promising Player award at the National Young Talent Competition for Students of Art Schools in 2020; to the Best Instrument award at the first season of the Vietnam Children's Talent Competition in 2023 organized by VTC Digital Television…

Thien Thanh shared: “I just want to pursue higher and more in-depth studies in traditional music, and I want to bring Vietnamese folk music to the world to contribute to introducing the beauty of Vietnamese traditions. Another thing I want to do is to restore some traditional musical instruments of the ethnic minorities in Quang Nam that are currently disappearing… to preserve them for the future…”

These are Thien Thanh's big dreams for Vietnamese traditional music. The road ahead is long and full of challenges to achieve her dreams. The next step will be the lecture halls of the Military University of Culture and Arts. Hopefully, Thanh's graceful playing of the zither will take flight, spreading Vietnamese pride far and wide.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/thanh-nhu-giot-dan-bau-3154226.html