At the festival, Hai performed Sonatina No 2, Op 36 by the Italian composer, Muzio Clementi. After that, the 11-year-old boy continued with a four-hand piano performance with Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, an outstanding work in the career of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The jury gave the Vietnamese contestant’s performance a favourable evaluation for its skilful combination of emotion and technique. Hai won two gold trophies by scoring highly and outpacing competitors from other Asian nations.
“I just tried my best and did not put too much pressure on winning or losing. When my name was called as a winner, I burst out with happiness. This is a meaningful reward for me to follow the career path of being a piano artist in the future,” Hai said.
Hai, who was born in 2012, currently studies at an international school in HCM City. Hai is the son of director and photographer Nguyen Ly Dong Hai. He created MV ‘Đôi mắt’ (Eyes) by the late singer Wanbi Tuan Anh. In the field of photography, he made an impression with the work Phieu Linh Loc (The Spirit of Loc), capturing the beautiful moments on stage of Meritorious artist Thanh Loc.
With a father working in the music industry, from a young age, Hai expressed his passion for musical instruments such as piano, guitar, and drums.
Before participating in the Asia Pacific Arts Festival, Hai had completed some achievements in music, including a gold medal at the 9th Asian Art Festival held in Singapore in 2022.
He also performed with conductor Fan Ting from Hong Kong at the HCM City Opera House in the Talent Youth programme.
Asia Pacific Arts Festival (APAF), which has been successfully held since 2013 with participants from Asia countries, aims to promote harmony, peace, and global friendship through diversified cultural exchange, workshops, and performing arts competitions.
The mission of this festival is to encourage participants to nurture and cultivate unity and peace through the understanding of the diversity of cultures, races, languages, faiths, traditions, and customs.
This year, the festival took place from June 22 to 25, 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand, with various contests, including those in musical instruments, singing, dancing, and hip-hop in the form of solo, duet, ensemble orchestra, choir, and group performances.
A Talented Maker of Musical Instruments
We visited the musical instrument making workshop of Cao Ky Kinh in Thanh Cong Ward, Ba Dinh District of Hanoi where he was busy sawing a wood plate to make a two-string zither’s rod. Welcoming us to his house, Kinh took a bamboo flute and played it beautifully. The sounds went up and down, attracting our full attention.
Se Dang youth inspires passion for traditional music
Despite not having undergone any training in music, 26-year-old Tis of the Se Dang ethnic group in Dak Lak province, can make and play many musical instruments of the Central Highland region. He also teaches local children to play music.
A Successful School Band
The band of Vo Thanh Trang Secondary School in Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City was established on December 25, 2001. It had its premiere performance for the pupil’s flag raising on the first day of that week. The music of Vietnam’s national anthem played by the young instrumentalists impressed everyone. Since then, the band has developed, and so far it has had 1,450 performances in Vietnam and abroad.
Pianist Luu Hong Quang: Homeland – An integral part of the heart
NDO – Although busy with his training schedule and performing abroad, Luu Hong Quang stills spend the time to return to Vietnam each year because he believes that the homeland is an inseparable part of his heart. Quang cherishes a big dream of claiming a prestigious music award. On his chosen career path, he appears to be in the shadow of the artist Dang Thai Son – a hard, lonely path with a true love for music.
Trang Trinh’s musical dream
Pianist Trinh Mai Trang (also known as Trang Trinh) graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London. She has a long list of international prizes and has all the criteria needed to flourish on the Western stage but she chose to come back to her fatherland to realize the dream of bringing classical music to the masses in her own way.
