Ca tru artists show off talents at national festival in Ha Tinh

NDO – The 2018 National Ca Tru (ceremonial singing) Festival kicked off in Ha Tinh province on November 1, bringing together 13 art troupes and three clubs from 13 cities and provinces across the country.

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During the four-day event, each team will bring to the stage a performance lasting from 45 minutes to 90 minutes, during which they are required to feature at least three typical musical forms or melodies of ca tru, as well as one ca tru song written by the famous late 17th century poet Nguyen Cong Tru.

There are also solo performance categories for dao nuong (the female vocalist), kep dan (lute player) and quan vien (a spectator who also takes part in the ca tru performance), who should be aged between 15 and 55.

The most outstanding performances, as well as the best individuals and collectives, will be honoured at a closing ceremony to be held on November 5.

The festival, held jointly by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ha Tinh provincial People’s Committee, offered an opportunity to review their efforts to preserve and uphold ca tru in today’s life, thus reaffirming Vietnam’s commitment to safeguarding and promoting the value of the art form.

The outcome of the festival will contribute to Vietnam’s call for UNESCO to remove ca tru from UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding and add it to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.