Pianist Luu Duc Anh: Performing new scripts to refresh Vietnamese audiences

The series will feature the participation of artists and lecturers from the Inspirito School of Music. Pianist Luu Duc Anh (co-founder of the Inspirito School of Music) who spoke about the features of the two projects to the Thoi Nay (Present Time) publication of Nhan Dan (People) Newspaper.

Q: What kind of music will be performed by the Inspirito School of Music as part of the two music projects of Goethe Institute?

A: The Inspirito School of Music will perform contemporary music works in both projects, focusing on those composed during the 20th and 21st centuries. It will take time for Vietnamese audiences to “get acquainted” with the new style of music featured because up to now, Vietnamese audiences know much more the pre-classical and romantic classical music.

Cultural and artistic orientation in this new period is in line with the orientation of our Inspirito School of Music as young people are very excited about the novelty. We conducted the first issue of the “Music of the 2oth century” project on March 22, which received a warm response from audiences. That was a great encouragement for the upcoming concerts in April, May, June and July at the Goethe Institute.

Q: Could you explain more about this new genre of music?

A: The new genre of music has a different expression from the previous period. This was derived from musicians in the post-romantic period as they began to change from small places such as Franz Liszt (in his later years) and Richard Wagner, among others. Since 1900, the new music movement became more and more powerful. Musicians sought out new directions without rules and pre-existing frameworks. They even devised their own gamut and languages to break down traditional features.

I myself have tried to research and learn those. At first, I also felt it was not appropriate, but later, when I understood the nature and purpose of the works, I found they were very interesting. The performance techniques are also quite new. Maybe the artists will use movements distinct from the norm, such as playing music with other parts of their body to create a unique performance for audiences.

Pianist Luu Duc Anh

Q: Will those new features cause difficulties for the audiences?

A: This is a genre of music that is not easy to listen and understand. Therefore, audiences should open their hearts to accept the differences so they will see that the music during this period has a certain quintessence. If we hear different music genres from diverse periods, our perceptual ability will be greatly enhanced.

Q: How will the Inspirito School of Music participate in the project “ReConnect”?

A: “ReConnect” was formed in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak around the world and interaction through virtual space playing an increasingly essential role. This project helps to realize cross-border meeting opportunities through online collaboration. Our group performed jointly with two German artists online on April 12.

We developed a music programme that could deal with the disadvantages of geographical distance and network latency. We performed compositions from the 1960s that were not defined by pitch, exact interference, length of track and musical instruments. These artworks brought musicians a certain freedom in their imagination and creation. The works by the European American composer Frederic Rzewsky are an example. His works often contain spatial segments, background voices among the sounds of the instruments is one of his work’s signature elements.

I think this will be a very special experience, because Vietnamese audiences will feel the difference in such compositions. We previously did not have the opportunity to perform this type of music and that’s why this was also an opportunity for us to learn from German artists.

Q: In your opinion, is this one of the ways for Vietnam to integrate with the world via music?

A: Of course, contemporary music is developing very strongly in the world. There are many Vietnamese artists pursuing similar styles Therefore, activities like this will become opportunities for them to fulfill their creativity. I believe if these projects are carried out regularly, we will see a new development of Vietnamese music in a short time.

Thank you very much!