The Music Story of the Old Quarter has been performed monthly by Dong Kinh Co Nhac (Ancient Music Group of Tonkin) since May, 2015, at the Centre of the Old Quarter’s Culture Exchange in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem district. Without any music amplifiers, the artists sings, accompanied by silk-stringed instruments, the unique songs of Vietnamese folk music. “Our group includes senior artists of Vietnam’s folk music. We join together to revive our traditional music and promote it in the modern context.”, said artisan Dam Quang Minh, the group’s founder. Since its debut, the Music Story of the Old Quarter show has offered audiences the delicacy of traditional sounds through performances of various traditional art forms including cheo (traditional opera), tuong (classical opera), ca tru (ceremonial singing), and poem reciting. The group has experimented with blending traditional and modern music at many concerts at home and abroad. The group’s performances feature folk songs of the former imperial city of Hue using lyrics written by the late Trinh Cong Son. Among their shows are “Lullabies – Green Bamboo “, a night of Vietnamese traditional music with contemporary poetry by Nguyen Duy, an important author of modern Vietnamese literature, and programs spotlighting the German poems of Jan Wagner and Heinrich Heiner, like “The Rain Barrel Show” and “Lyrical Intermezzeo”. Late last year, the group collaborated with the Hanoi New Music Ensemble to perform a concert entitled “Mirror of Memory” at the Vietnam National Academy of Music Concert Hall under the baton of German conductor… [Read full story]
The participants will compete in two categories: traditional amateur folk music and modern amateur folk music, which utilizes the four classical melodies of Nam, Oan, Bac and Bac Le.Competitors, who perform in pairs, will also compete in a new challenge this year which require them to answer questions to test their knowledge of the art. The selections that will be performed at the festival have been selected from nearly 500 pieces by singers and instrument players from all over the province, who have been planning the programme since the beginning of this year.The songs praise the country, war martyrs, the…... [read more]
Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces late last week received a UNESCO certificate that recognizes Vi-Giam folk music of the two north-central provinces as a world intangible cultural heritage of humanity. What is special about this genre of folk music is its vitality. It was created hundreds of years ago but now it still exists. Nghe An and Ha Tinh people say they never stop singing Vi-Giam music, according to Vietnam News Agency.Kim Lien Commune in Nam Dan District is where Vi-Giam folk music has evolved and where Vi Phuong Vai, a song of people in fabric making areas and…... [read more]
Nepali folk culture specialists stressed over conservation of traditional folk music in order to maintain Nepali cultural identity worldwide. "In the name of modernization and westernization, our folk music is being extinct in every minute," said Dr. Govinda Acharya. Dr. Acharya, specialized in Nepali folk culture, said "though culture is to some extent changeable, it is not just changing in context of Nepal , rather we are not preserving our tradition." Dr. Acharya, who is also a member of Nepal Music Center (NMC) which is a non-government organization promoting Nepali music, teaches Nepali culture course at Dang Campus in mid-western…... [read more]
In his opening speech at the festival on Monday, Trần Minh Lý, director of Sóc Trăng Province’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Department, said from the cradle of đờn ca tài tử (southern folk music and songs) in Bạc Liêu Province, the art has developed throughout the southern region.“To southern people, folk melodies have been rooted deep inside their souls,” he said, “Practising the art has been a popular movement, an indispensable cultural food for the mind and is the pride of the locals.”The event gathers dozens of amateur teams, with singers and traditional instrument alists, who perform songs with content, praising the…... [read more]
At a time when the modern music industry in Viet Nam is producing mostly flash-in-the-pan pop stars, modern technology is starting to prove convenient in keeping traditional music alive.Fans of quan ho (love duets from the northern province of Bac Ninh) no longer need to visit the province to enjoy live performances of this ancient folk music.Now the music is just a phone call away.Thanks to such clubs as the Hoa Dinh Club in Hoa Dinh Village, Bac Ninh City, quan ho fans can dial in to listen to their favourite love songs, performed live by well-known singers.With modern technology…... [read more]
