VietNamNet Bridge – Many Vietnamese students attended international music competitions in 2014 where they came away with top prizes.

Quach Hoang Nhi.

Nguyen Hoang Linh Phuong, born in 2004, placed first in the ‘Free’ group, and Nguyen Hoang Phuong Thy and Quach Hoang Nhi bagged first prizes for contestants aged seven to nine, and 10-12, respectively.

Thy earned a special prize which honoured the Best Talent, defeating over 15 first prize winners in the categories of piano, vocal music, guitar and accordion.

She also brought home first prize from the Piano Talents 2014 Competition, which drew 109 contests from 31 countries.

Quach Hoang Nhi received the consolation prize at the 6th International Rosario Marciano Piano Competition held in Vienna.

Dr. Ta Quang Dong from the Vietnam National Academy of Music, who has led the delegations of Vietnamese students to the competitions four times, emphasized that all the students were trained in Vietnam by Vietnamese experts.

Meanwhile, the other contestants, of varying nationalities, were all trained at prestigious schools in Europe.

“There were only two non-European students in the groups of contestants aged 10-12,” Dong said.

However, Dong said, though the Vietnamese students are very promising, they still need to continue following a long path ahead to become talents.

“Vietnam has outstanding talents, but it needs to do a lot of things to develop them,” Dong said.

Bui Cong Duy, a Vietnamese violinist known worldwide, who saw the performances at the 2014 International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, showed his concern that Vietnam may not have any competitors to attend the championship of the competition by 2020, let alone prize winners.

Analysts are cautious when asked to make comments about the future of the Vietnamese classical music, saying that not all the talents can “grow up”.

Vietnam has Dang Thai Son, a talented classical pianist, who received the Gold Medal of the Tenth International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1980, and Bui Cong Duy, a talented violinist, who has won scores of prizes at international competitions.

However, the two not only have outstanding abilities, but also great advantages. Son could study with his mother, also a well known pianist, Thai Thi Lien, and later, with good Russian teachers.

Duy’s father is artist Bui Cong Thanh. He also studied with Russian professors.

However, as Dong said, it is difficult to say when the new Bui Cong Duy and Dang Thai Son will turn up, but Vietnamese still should nurture their hopes.

Chi Mai