Emotional Gia Lai highland teacher and student travel over 1,000km to Hanoi to compete in national piano final

Teacher Ho Thuc Truong shares the journey to the piano of the children in Duc Co mountainous area - Photo: D.DUNG

The final and award ceremony of the 2025 National Piano Talent Festival took place on the evening of March 30 at the grand concert hall, Vietnam National Academy of Music, Hanoi .

This is a national open piano competition organized by the Vietnam Institute forEducational and Cultural Development, with the support of the Department of Grassroots Culture (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism).

Taking place from January 1st to now, the contest has attracted more than 5,000 candidates from all over the provinces. After the preliminary round and semi-final round, the shortlist has been reduced to 393 candidates entering the final round.

Happy to have 4 students perform in the final night

Among those 393 contestants, there were 4 contestants from Duc Co, a mountainous district of Gia Lai province, who, along with their piano teacher - Mr. Ho Thuc Truong, enthusiastically traveled more than 1,000km to be in the capital in time for the final night.

Mr. Truong said Duc Co is a remote district of Gia Lai province, with 38km of border. The population is over 81,000 people, of which more than 45% are ethnic minorities.

Originally a soldier, but because of his love for music, his love for the piano, and his desire for people in remote areas to also have access to the piano and classical music, Mr. Truong decided to open a music class here, called the Melody Music Class.

Three years ago, Duc Co was a "blank area", a "lowland" for piano. Currently, the whole district has more than 21,000 students at all levels, of which only 30 - 40 students are learning piano. However, that is still an astonishing and proud number.

On stage, the teacher said that this year his class has 4 students participating in the final round.

"This is the first time I have been able to stand at a piano event like this, and it is also the first time that four students from remote areas of Gia Lai have participated in the final round. I am very happy," he said.

Mr. Truong said that due to difficult conditions, his students could only learn piano on low-end electric pianos. The whole class had only one acoustic piano, and it wasn’t a branded one. They learned both the electric piano and the organ, and then took turns practicing on the teacher’s acoustic piano.

At the final night, the organizers decided to present a Japanese acoustic piano to the teacher's music class to encourage the piano learning movement here.

Mr. Truong was very touched. "Our students have one more instrument to learn on."

The teacher's sharing made not only the parents sitting below but also the children, especially the children in the city - compared to the children in the mountains who have better learning conditions - silent with emotion.

At the end of the competition, the organizers will send some outstanding candidates to participate in some world piano competitions held in Japan, Singapore, and the US - Photo: BTC

Continuing the music story of Vietnam's young generation

During the gala night, the best contestants representing 10 groups gave emotional performances, demonstrating their progress and outstanding talent.

As Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan - head of the contest's organizing committee - said, there were many young people, only 5-6 years old, but very confident in showing their abilities on stage and "no matter what awards the contestants receive, they are all winners".

He added that the competition is a playground where children can show their talents, where they can rub shoulders, experience, learn and indulge themselves, indulge in art, and continue writing the musical story of the young generation of Vietnam.

Awarding one of the young contestants who won the gold prize - Photo: D.DUNG

Dr. Dao Trong Tuyen - head of the piano department of the Vietnam National Academy of Music, head of the competition's jury - shared that through the competition, many judges were impressed and happy to see the strong development of the national piano movement, as well as the investment in the performances.

"The most touching thing is that not only big cities but also the number of candidates in remote provinces and cities is increasing, showing a strong young generation following the previous generation, those who have contributed to building this major in Vietnam," he said.

As a result, the gold cup was awarded to the 10 best candidates of the 10 competition groups including:

Pham Minh Vu (group A, born in 2018), Nguyen Duc Huy (group B1 free, 2017), Le Gia Bach (group B2 Classic, 2015), Tran Tri Nghiem (group CI Free, 2012), Pham Minh Hoang (group C2 Classic, 2012), Vu Anh Hang Nga (group F, 2006), Vu Anh Hang Nga (group E2 Classic, 2006), Nguyen Duy Bach (group D1 free, 2010), Nguyen Duy Bach (group D2 Classic, 2010), Nguyen Trong Nhan (group EI free, 2008).

The gala night also awarded gold, silver, bronze medals and the most popular contestant award.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/xuc-dong-thay-tro-mien-nui-gia-lai-vuot-hon-1-000km-ra-ha-noi-thi-chung-ket-piano-toan-quoc-20250331045110143.htm