Returning home after accompanying President Vo Van Thuong to Austria and Italy, violinist Bui Cong Duy still has the emotions and echoes of the memorable trip, when he performed his first diplomatic mission through a concert.
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| Violinist Bui Cong Duy at the Haydn-Saad concert hall, Austria. (Photo: NVCC) |
Talking to TG&VN reporter, the youngest Vice Director in the 70-year history of the Vietnam National Academy of Music, shared the story of "cooking" for the special tour, expressed his belief in the development of Vietnamese music, as well as being more aware of the role of culture and artists in promoting creativity and promoting the country's image...
Special Mission
The aftertaste of the recent tour must have left an unforgettable impression on you and the artists?
For the artists and me personally, this is a great honor to represent our country's art to Austria - the country that gave birth to musical geniuses such as Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn... Performing at the Haydn-Saad concert hall - the world's number one concert hall in the Esterhazy Castle (Eisenstadt) is the dream of all classical artists.
For many of us in the group, this was also the first time (for me personally, it was the second time) to set foot in the Palace of Rome, Italy to perform. It was truly a rare opportunity, because as far as I know, this palace only holds two concerts a year.
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| Violinist Bui Cong Duy and other artists after a performance at the Haydn-Saad concert hall. (Photo: NVCC) |
This proves that your country has given Vietnam great respect, appreciation and a very warm welcome. We really appreciate the opportunity that the State has trusted us with. This impression will remain forever in the hearts of each artist in the troupe.
Touring abroad is not a new story for artists, but to carry out this special mission, how did the group prepare to "bring the bell to strike in foreign lands"?
Along with the pride, this is also a huge responsibility. In fact, we are quite pressured because we represent a country with 100 million people and many unique cultural features of 54 ethnic groups. The tour is also a difficult task because in a short period of time we have to perform three different programs with unique, non-repetitive performances.
I, Associate Professor Dr. Le Anh Tuan - Director of the Academy and the members of the delegation have thought very carefully about the script and have made a breakthrough in the cultural approach. The safe approach is to bring and introduce music and art with national identity. But that way, it will be difficult for you to understand our own musical language, as well as difficult to assess the artistic value.
Therefore, we have combined with classical music - a genre that is not owned by any country, is international and is a world heritage. Such a program has a great integration, not only helping international friends understand what Vietnamese culture is, but also know what Vietnam can do and how it integrates.
This time, the performances featured a subtle combination of classical and traditional music, introducing some of the most typical and unique cultural features of Vietnam, such as the monochord - the soulful voice of the Vietnamese people and another unique instrument of the Central Highlands, the T'rung.
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Italian President Sergio Mattarella enjoys discovering Vietnam's monochord. (Photo: NVCC) |
It can be said that with consistent direction and careful preparation, we have had concise and focused art programs with highly instrumental works. Therefore, when seeing the audience in Austria and Italy catch on very quickly and there seems to be no other language barrier, the artists in the troupe also performed very confidently with a positive energy expressing national identity and pride.
The sound lingers forever
Recently, President Vo Van Thuong sent a letter of commendation and appreciation to the art troupe, as well as hoping that the artists would always uphold their fine traditions, constantly innovate and develop, aiming for new heights, contributing to spreading Vietnamese culture to international friends. Through this, how do you perceive the role of artists in promoting the country's image?
It can be seen that the great resonance to create the success of the recent visit of the President, in which there was an important contribution of culture. Besides the rituals, working programs…, the concerts softened the atmosphere of the visit. After the trip, people will still remember and cherish those sounds.
I think that linking concert programs with diplomatic missions is a very correct direction and suitable for today's integration period, while music has a common language, with great connecting power.
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| Violinist Bui Cong Duy talks with Italian President Sergio Mattarella. (Photo: NVCC) |
The success of this program will be a good premise for future cultural activities abroad - where we not only introduce traditional music, but also show you the development of Vietnamese music, the ability and level of Vietnamese artists. The State should also have policies to support, encourage more and gather artists who are at the age of maturity in the profession and other talented young people to carry out this task.
Do you think the good vibes from the tours will open up opportunities for future collaborations?
With the strong spread of media, especially on the Internet, we have received many congratulations from friends all over the world.
This confirms that with attention, investment and careful preparation, we can confidently participate in programs with high international standards. These quality programs are like a business card that can be introduced to international friends and show them the development of Vietnam today.
I believe that this tour will open up many other opportunities. For example, right after the concert, Austrian friends expressed their impression of the performances of Vietnamese artists and wished that we would come back to perform.
Or in discussions with Italian conductor Paolo Olmi, we also suggested opportunities for exchange between artist groups from both sides, inviting artists to tour in Hanoi... This is one of the forms of people-to-people exchange that needs to be promoted among artists, helping them understand and learn more from each other.
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| Artists in the art troupe accompanying the President took a photo at the concert hall in the Rome Palace. (Photo: NVCC) |
Cultural stories are increasingly elevated
Just now was the story of "bringing bells to strike foreign lands", but looking at the development of Vietnamese music, including classical music, what prospects do you see?
I think that in Vietnam there are many conditions to develop music, such as increasingly civilized society, a large population, and people's living standards and need to enjoy art are increasingly improving.
The good news is that our music education is not keeping up with the current pace of development. Almost all students graduating from intermediate schools have jobs and each individual contributes to the overall development of music.
For example, before 1997, in Hanoi there was almost only one symphony chamber orchestra, but after 1997 there were 3 orchestras and now there are 6 orchestras in a city of about 8 million people.
Of course, we still have many difficulties in terms of conditions, economy, policies... but that is not a reason to be pessimistic. I think that the spiritual life in Vietnam today is quite good and encourages the creativity of artists to develop the country's music industry.
In fact, many artists who have achieved certain successes abroad are still concerned about the limited artistic environment in their homeland. As a famous artist who has chosen to return to work in his homeland, is there anything you would like to share?
I believe that choosing where to work in art is up to you, the environment can also be created by you and there will be advantages everywhere.
If you want diversity, discovery and challenge, I think Vietnam has a certain amount of interest. In developed countries, everything seems to be in order, the conditions to support art are good… but the elimination is huge and proving yourself to be number one is not simple.
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| Artists take photos with the delegation accompanying the President in Italy. (Photo: NVCC) |
When I returned home, many people thought it was an unreasonable decision. However, I knew what I wanted and where was right for me.
Currently, the Party and Government have made breakthroughs and positive changes in the perception of the role of culture. The story of culture is increasingly elevated and placed in important positions.
These are good prospects for the artistic environment in Vietnam. As long as each person has enough desire, talent, patience and determination, they will definitely succeed!
Thank you artist!Meritorious Artist Bui Cong Duy was once a young talent of Vietnamese music with many major international awards, including first prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition for Young People in 1997. Graduated from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory (Russia), he was the first foreigner to become a member of the world-famous Virtuose Moscow String Orchestra. He and his wife, pianist Trinh Huong (daughter of musician Phu Quang), returned to Vietnam to work, teach at the Vietnam National Academy of Music and perform major concerts. Bui Cong Duy has held the position of Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Academy of Music since 2017 and received the title of Honorary Professor at the Kazakhstan National University of Arts in April 2023. |
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