Cham boy, preserving the music of his roots

c924a3d6954f47111e5e(1).jpg — Thanh Phap (right corner of photo) received the Logo and Certificate of Merit from Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung.

Preserving the roots

Thanh Phap - a singer born in 1985, although now with a new role - Deputy Head of Department, in charge of the Performing Arts Department of the Blue Sea Music and Dance Theater of Binh Thuan. As a son of the Bani Cham community in Phan Thanh commune (Bac Binh), always striving with his own aspirations, protecting and contributing to the development of traditional Cham culture. That young man has a dream, bringing Cham music closer to the public with a new, pure combination.

Thanh Phap - a person who is always passionate about Cham music.

In 2006, Thanh Phap started his career as a singer after graduating from the University of Music Education (Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music). Considered to have a powerful voice with good technique, Thanh Phap admitted: "I have no fate with acting, instead there was a period of time when I had a mental breakdown due to objective reasons that took several years to recover". Thanh Phap began to plan, practice writing music, write about his own concerns, with folk music because: "I want to preserve traditional values. National music, traditional culture will be eternal values, need to be promoted and young people must know how to preserve" - Thanh Phap shared.

For the past 3 years, Thanh Phap has directly managed, participated in staging, composing, and arranging performing arts programs to carry out political tasks for cadres, soldiers, and people inside and outside the province. “As a party member, I always uphold the sense of responsibility for building the political system in the unit and uphold the spirit of criticism and self-criticism at the place of residence. During one year of work, I and my colleagues have built, repaired, and staged many programs for the unit, and carried out many sudden mobilization requests from superior leaders,” Thanh Phap shared.

In fact, he is still quite young, so surely those who have heard the songs written by Thanh Phap himself, the harmonies of creativity, bringing the unit's performance program always new, not only meeting the needs of many audiences but also promptly meeting the political tasks and requirements of performance contract partners. At the same time, Thanh Phap has successfully completed many tasks when the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism suddenly mobilized.

Traditional “new” maker

As a young person, well-trained, it is easy to receive creative and changing thoughts while still closely following the political tasks of the industry and unit. Thanh Phap has participated in staging, composing, and performing many art programs, such as the 30th anniversary of the re-establishment of Binh Thuan province, participating in the National Professional Music and Dance Festival in 2021, the ASEAN Music Festival in 2022, opening the National Tourism Year 2023 "Binh Thuan - Green Convergence"... Thanh Phap is also a "transporter" of traditional music participating in many national programs organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, serving the leaders of the Party and State in the capital Hanoi. What is admirable about Thanh Phap is that he is always creative in art in Cham music. There were nights when he almost stayed up all night to nurture the song "Giot Thap" to be born. And the gold medal for the song "Giot Thap" is a priceless spiritual gift for his passion and nurturing. “The first time a new song was successfully performed, it was the contribution of the whole group in the staging that brought out its full effectiveness, bringing emotions to the audience” – Thanh Phap confided. “This is a song with a folk but strange sound, with a modern breath but still preserving the Cham cultural identity in the melody and lyrics” – People’s Artist Ngoc Khoi commented on the songs written by the French like that.

Born and raised in the Cham community in Phan Thanh commune, Thanh Phap understands better than anyone the cultural values of his people, thereby actively exploiting the folk art of the ethnic groups in the province to create many new cultural values. Thanh Phap must selectively absorb the artistic quintessence of the ethnic groups in the country, making the most of other art forms to make the performance program rich in content and form.

Thanh Phap also boldly "applied the original folk melodies of the three ethnic groups Cham, K'ho, Rai to develop in the form of Acapalaca" or proposed the solution "Improving the coordination of professional training between the two performing art troupes in using music technology to perform choreography and song arrangement on Protools software combined with Finale software to limit mass practice in the practice room, helping actors quickly absorb the practice, meeting the programs of the Theater, especially gathering large crowds to improve the artistic quality in the performance program celebrating the 30th anniversary of the re-establishment of Binh Thuan province".

Although he has written more than 60 songs, more than half of which are folk music, and some of which have won many awards, Thanh Phap remains humble. “Receiving a certificate of merit from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is a great honor, but to achieve this result, it is thanks to the trust and close guidance of the unit's leaders and the enthusiastic support and coordination of the departments in the theater. I am someone who always wants to "turn nothing into something, turn difficulties into ease", dare to think, dare to do, dare to take responsibility for my actions for the benefit of the organization and the collective" - Thanh Phap confided.

It is these efforts that have helped Thanh Phap become one of 78 typical advanced examples in the field of culture nationwide in 2023, honored at the National Convention Center (Hanoi City). Thanh Phap is the only Cham man from Binh Thuan to be honored this time.

Personal achievements:
- 2 gold medals at the "2021 National Music and Dance Festival" in Hai Phong City.
- 2 silver medals at "Asean Music Festival 2022" in Hoi An City - Quang Nam.
Along with the competition titles:
- In 2021 - 2022, the civil servant and party member completed their tasks excellently.
- In 2021, achieved the title of "Basic Emulation Fighter".
- Certificate of Merit from the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee 2022 for outstanding achievements in the patriotic emulation movement from 2021.
- Certificate of Merit from the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee 2022 for outstanding achievements at the National Professional Music and Dance Festival 2021.

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