HCM CITY — The first HCM City Piano Competition kicked off last night with the participation of about 200 contestants. 

The competition is hosted by Conservatory of HCM City, and is open to all young professional and amateur pianists from six to 24 years until June 18. 

The professional pianists are from national music schools such as Việt Nam National Academy of Music (VNAM); Hà Nội College of Arts; Conservatory of HCM City and Huế Academy of Music. They are joined by nine others from Malaysia and South Korea to compete at the First Group.

Second Group will be for amateur pianists across the nation, from places such as Hải Phòng, Nam Định, Thanh Hóa, Huế, Đà Nẵng, Khánh Hòa’s Nha Trang, Đắk Lắk and southern provinces of Đồng Nai and Kiên Giang. 

"The conservatory has held a piano festival in the previous years, but we’ve never held a formal competition. We wanted to organise a professional contest giving an opportunity for piano students to meet and exchange. It will attract music talents and popular classical musicians as well," said Dr Tạ Quang Đông, the conservatory’s principal and head of organisation board. 

"We hope the competition will be held annually and will become a destination for young pianists from all over the world." 

The competition will be judged by Vietnamese and international professors of piano, including Prof Dr Trần Thu Hà - former principal of VNAM; German Frank Reich and Korean Doctor Joo Eun-young.

Professor Reich won the First Prize at the National German Competition in 1980. He has taught at Ettlingen School of Music; Suwon - University in Seoul, South Korea; Minzu University of Beijing and Shenzhen Arts School in China; and at Sungshin Women’s University in Seoul since 2016. 

He is president of the European Union of Music Competition for Youth and managing director of Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists. 

Young graduated with distinction from the Vienna State Conservatory of Music in 2000. She obtained a doctorate degree with excellent credits from the Gnessin Academy of Music in Moscow. She has won many international prizes including top honours at Austria’s prestigious Allegro Vivo international piano competition in 2001.

Vietnamese Professor Hà has served on the juries of several regional piano competitions. She graduated from the Kiev Conservatory in Russia and earned a doctorate from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. Many of her students have been winners or finalists in competitions in Italy, Australia, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea. — VNS