Meritorious Artist Vu Xuan Trang: Aspiration to build Ho Chi Minh City more and more prosperous

As a stage director who specializes in composing songs for plays, his heart beats with melodies about Ho Chi Minh City.

Sending a song composed by himself to the songwriting campaign with the theme "The Country is Full of Joy" at the end of the year, Meritorious Artist and director Vu Xuan Trang shared his sincere feelings about this lyrical and warm melody.

Reporter: What made you compose the song "Saigon we love" to participate in the song composition campaign with the theme "The Country is Full of Joy"?

- Meritorious Artist VU XUAN TRANG: I was born and raised in this city. Since I was a child, I loved music so I learned many musical instruments, then practiced writing songs for the stage. My father - the late Meritorious Artist Minh Chau - was an actor at Tran Huu Trang Theater. He used to work at the Southern Opera Troupe in the North. He loved music so much that he encouraged me, in addition to equipping myself with professional knowledge about acting and directing, to spend time learning music theory and musical instruments. Thanks to that, I have the capital to apply to staging and teaching.

When the Lao Dong Newspaper organized the campaign, it was also the time when the Xom Kich stage - where my wife, artist Hoang Thy, and I set up for students to do art - staged the play "Sai Gon, so funny!" by three young authors Thanh Phuong, Nha Uyen, and Quoc Huy. That's how this song was born. At first it was just a short melody in the play, but then I developed it further, creating more liveliness to become a new song about Ho Chi Minh City.

NSƯT Vũ Xuân Trang: Khát vọng xây dựng TP HCM ngày càng phồn vinh- Ảnh 2. — Meritorious Artist Vu Xuan Trang. (Photo provided by character)

The lyrics you wrote are very smooth, do you have many unforgettable memories of Ho Chi Minh City?

- I wrote "Saigon has thousands of loves. It is the day we grew up and walked together. No matter how far away you are. Saigon is where we started. Carrying dreams for many people... Even though life is full of hardships. Everyone joins hands and devotes their hearts... Hearts love passionately. Saigon we will always love", as if talking to myself. I lost my mother quite early, she was the late artist Thanh Xuan who also worked at Tran Huu Trang Theater, then my father raised me and passed on my profession so that I could follow him into the stage. Therefore, Ho Chi Minh City is the place I love, the place that created conditions for me to become a son who continues the family business and always strives for new achievements in artistic work, passing on my profession to the younger generation.

Recently at the Ho Chi Minh City Theater Festival, the play "Khuc da tam" by Xom kich attracted attention. Two young actors who are your students won the individual gold and silver medals. Is the theater stage an environment to promote musical compositions about Ho Chi Minh City?

- The starting point of all the songs I wrote was for plays. So I think this will be the place where I promote my compositions about Ho Chi Minh City. On the evening of January 1, 2025, to welcome the New Year, Xom Kich also opened a new performance venue at the Experimental Stage of Ho Chi Minh City Dance School (155 Bis Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, Vo Thi Sau Ward, District 3) for the new play "The One Who Lost His Soul". I hope this new performance venue will attract a large audience and welcome our new works. Among them, there is music composed for the plays, and at the same time promises to be independent songs, separate from the stage and into life.

Besides writing music for plays and aiming to compose songs about Ho Chi Minh City, what new projects are you nurturing?

- As I said, to promote the song, I chose to put it in plays, then make music videos. The theater village trains actors, composers, and screenwriters, so there are many young people who are eager to learn and contribute to my stage. From this resource, I aim to make many community plays, including musicals for young actors to sing, act, and promote new compositions written about Ho Chi Minh City.

Is there any plan to re-perform the play "Sai Gon, so funny!" at a new stage? What message does the song you composed convey for this play?

- This play is about the love of neighbors. The simple features of the people of Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City, although having material difficulties, they always love, care for and help each other when needed. Besides, the play brings typical dishes of Saigon people such as Hu Tieu Go, bitter melon with eggplant and chili.

The play "Sai Gon... is so funny!" was born with the mindset that although it is determined to be a funny, colorful comedy, it does not lose the inherent quality of the stage, which is meticulousness and seriousness from the script, staging to the novel stage design.

The most important thing that the stage wants to convey through this play is the intense love for Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City. I believe that if it is performed again, the play will still have a large audience and that will be the place where I promote many songs written about Ho Chi Minh City to spread the love and aspiration to join hands to build the city to be more and more prosperous but still meaningful.

The prize structure of the songwriting campaign "The Country is Full of Joy" includes: 1 first prize worth 100 million VND, 1 second prize worth 50 million VND, 2 third prizes - each worth 30 million VND, 3 consolation prizes - each worth 10 million VND. The Organizing Committee has just announced an additional prize of "The most favorite work of readers" worth 5 million VND.

Currently, the Organizing Committee has received more than 100 songs from more than 80 musicians, singers, and singing groups. The Organizing Committee will select the 20 best works for the final round. The final round will take place in February 2025 and the award ceremony of the campaign is expected to take place in April 2025. The 4th Music Exchange Program will take place on the morning of January 6 at Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper.

The Organizing Committee will post the works on the newspaper's social networking platforms to introduce them to the community and promote them at Music Exchange programs held at Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper.

The Organizing Committee has selected a number of good works to stage and introduce at the 30th Mai Vang Awards ceremony (January 8, 2025 at the City Theater, broadcast live by VTV9 and digital platforms).