Artist Dang Thai Son - Photo: FBNV
On June 2 at the Hanoi Opera House and June 3 at the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music, artist Dang Thai Son will bring three of his favorite students to Vietnam to perform, opening the annual series of programs Timeless Resonance - Endless Sound , organized by Thanh Viet Production.
This live concert is part of his and his students' world tour. Vietnam is the first destination on that journey.
Countries are surpassing Vietnam
Dang Thai Son's schedule is packed this time. He has a concert in Singapore (May 24), Taiwan (June 1), Hanoi Opera House (June 2), Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music (June 3), Taiwan (June 4). Then there are destinations in Europe, Switzerland, Canada...
However, the famous musician still took the opportunity to "stop" home, present at the press conference Timeless Resonance - Endless Sound (held on the afternoon of May 22 in Hanoi) to share about the opening live concert of him and his students as well as the situation of classical music in Vietnam.
Dang Thai Son also explained why he chose Vietnam as the starting point for this world tour: "The development of music education in Vietnam is problematic and alarming."
The artist confided that during his recent visits to the country, he had reminded and then raised alarms, but all were "ineffective".
"Vietnam has one of the earliest histories of classical music in the region, around the beginning of the 20th century. Here, compared to other countries in Southeast Asia, we have a tradition of classical music that is far superior to theirs," the famous musician said.
We just sit there and be proud of the history of Vietnamese classical music, which has been around for hundreds of years, but the countries in the region have surpassed it without us even realizing it. Thailand is on the rise, Singapore is obvious, Malaysia and Indonesia are rising rapidly, boomingly.
Artist DANG THAI SON"Talking is useless, so I can only concretize it through actions, sometimes through festivals, sometimes international competitions, or simply through exchanges and performances (Timeless Resonance is an example), as a hidden meaning of mine," he expressed.
The artist added that he has long wanted to perform large-scale works by Vietnamese authors, but has waited for quite a while without any results. "In general, there are some limitations," he said.
Dang Thai Son chose Vietnam as his first destination because he wanted to start with something "related to his own origins".
This time he returned, bringing with him talented students including "child prodigy" Sophia Shuya Liu, "ghost fingers" Zitong Wang and "scale" music player Kai-Min Chang.
They are all very young but have won many high prizes in major international piano competitions around the world.
Due to schedules, there were a few names absent and unable to attend, including Bruce Liu, the student who won first prize at the 2021 Chopin concours - a competition where he was named more than 40 years ago.
Listening to Dang Thai Son talk, it is easy to see that this 65-year-old artist has feelings for his homeland. That is also his way of wanting to do something for Vietnamese classical music.
Abroad, theaters and classical concert halls with hundreds to thousands of seats are always packed when there is a performance. Hopefully, Vietnam will gradually develop a culture of paying for tickets to enjoy music.
Musician Quoc Trung
After the Monsoon International Music Festival, musician Quoc Trung continues projects related to classical music - Photo: FBNV
"Musician Quoc Trung is... reckless again!"
Musician Quoc Trung is the director of Thanh Viet Production, the founder and organizer of the Monsoon Music Festival for many years.
Monsoon has created a production process, technical preparation and performance project construction with criteria and implementation conditions according to common world standards, becoming a cultural brand of Hanoi.
Every year when making Monsoon , Quoc Trung complained of losses, ticket sales could not cover 30-50% of production costs. Many unnamed friends sent money to support the program.
But because he wanted to contribute, wanted to do something meaningful for Vietnamese music, he still jumped in.
After Monsoon , from 2024, Quoc Trung said he has a new ambition related to classical music.
Therefore, Quoc Trung considers organizing the first live concert for Dang Thai Son and his students in Vietnam this time as a great opportunity to "make an entrance" and introduce a completely new series related to classical music.
After Dang Thai Son and his students, he will bring many famous artists, the pinnacle of classical music in the world, to perform in Vietnam.
Hearing him reveal his plan, some people "felt a pang of fear for Quoc Trung" or thought to themselves "Quoc Trung is... reckless again".
Because over the years, the audience for classical music seems to be increasing, but in the end, it is still too modest compared to other genres of music.
Artist Dang Thai Son will have a live concert with his students in Hanoi on May 2nd and June 3rd in Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: FBNV
The musician himself, when sharing with Tuoi Tre , admitted that he took a risk in inviting Dang Thai Son and his students to return to the country this time.
He said that in our country, classical music is an area that is easily ignored. If the State or orchestras do not organize it, few private units dare to do it.
Quoc Trung wants to create this new series to inspire young artists in particular and Vietnamese artists in general, not only in classical music but also in other music genres.
So that we can have the capacity to step out into the world, and at the same time have an impact, making Vietnamese music life more and more developed and enriched.
Quoc Trung said that at first, he thought of paying Dang Thai Son from ticket sales. "But this is very difficult in the context of Vietnam, we have a group of audiences who always feel that receiving free tickets is more luxurious than buying tickets," the musician said. "Luckily, there are philanthropists accompanying us, so the pressure is reduced."
Still a long way to go
Vietnamese classical music has flourished in recent years thanks to a generation of talented young artists returning from studying abroad, leading to diverse and high-quality programs.
Coupled with the growing presence of theaters and other non-traditional venues (outdoor spaces, museums, galleries, etc.), Vietnam recently held its first classical music festival in Da Lat in March.
But in general, audiences in our country do not have the habit of buying tickets to enjoy classical music.
Meanwhile, calling for organization and sponsorship for events related to classical music is facing many difficulties, many investors are hesitant, and the number of qualified theaters is still modest.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/dang-thai-son-mang-theo-chuong-bao-dong-20240524102829388.htm
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