8-year-old Vietnamese boy wins first prize in Guitar - Ukulele competition in Hong Kong

Nguyen Lee Hieu performs at the Hong Kong International Music Festival - Photo: NVCC

Nguyen Lee Hieu is currently an Australian citizen, living in Ho Chi Minh City and attending an international primary school here.

Pianist Nguyen Le Thuyen Ha - president of the Hong Kong International Music Festival in Vietnam, who led the Vietnamese delegation to the festival - said that Nguyen Lee Hieu had participated in several international music competitions and festivals in the US and Malaysia and had won high rankings.

But the 2024 Hong Kong International Music Festival is the most difficult and academic competition I have ever participated in.

The festival attracted more than 90,000 contestants from 120 countries to participate in the preliminary round.

The final round, a series of events lasting a week in the second half of August, brought together more than 4,000 contestants from around the world to Hong Kong (China) to compete in 32 categories of musical instruments and many subjects including piano, violin, guitar, vocals, jazz drums, choir, chamber music...

60 people won first prize but only 28 were selected to perform at the closing ceremony of the 2024 Hong Kong International Music Festival, including Nguyen Lee Hieu.

Nguyen Lee Hieu (front row, second from right) with HKIMF Vietnam president - pianist Nguyen Le Thuyen Ha (back row, fourth from right) and members of the Vietnamese delegation competing in HKIMF - Photo: NVCC

In this closing performance, Lee Hieu performed the same piece that helped him win the highest ranking. That piece was While my guitar gently weeps - a famous song in the album White by the famous band The Beatles released in 1968.

Artist Thuyen Ha said Lee Hieu has special feelings about this song because he always wishes that people in the world would love, care and share with each other more.

Therefore, Lee Hieu performed the song very sweetly with a bit of emotion at the end of the song, receiving warm applause from the judges and audience.

"Nguyen Lee Hieu is a talented boy, the pride of the Vietnamese delegation attending the Hong Kong International Music Festival," said artist Thuyen Ha.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cau-be-8-tuoi-goc-viet-gianh-giai-nhat-guitar-ukulele-tai-hong-kong-20240830102107302.htm