HÀ NỘI — A variety of activities will celebrate the 60th anniversary of Viet Nam National Academy of Music (VNAM), according to Lê Anh Tuấn, the deputy director of the academy at the press conference yesterday.

The training ground of many Vietnamese music talents will celebrate its diamond jubilee on November 26, screening a documentary about the history of the academy. Special arts performances and a national anthem sing-a-long with the participation of nearly 300 people and the accompaniment of live music will be held alongside. 

During the celebration, the academy will receive the Order of Labour, second class.

The Academy will also organise other activities like a year book official release, an inauguration of its traditional hall - which showcases the history of the academy’s development - as well as the "Return to the Roots" Programme, which will be held in Xuân Phú Commune in the northern province of Bắc Giang. The commune used to be the location for evacuation of the students and teachers of the academy during the resistant wars.

According to Tuấn, an international music conference titled ’Professional Musical Training in the Context of Integration and Development’ will be organised, drawing the participation of Vietnamese music managers, lecturers and artists as well as representatives of many international music and arts organisations which are currently based in Việt Nam.

The highlights of the celebration are 36 arts performances that has been running for one month and end on November 26. Conducted by renowned artists from the academy and abroad, the performances include New Music Programme, Beethoven Choral Fantasy and Piano Ricital Solo Night by artist Lưu Hồng Quang.

Established in 1956 under the former name Ha Noi National Conservatory of Music, VNAM has been the first and biggest music training institution of Việt Nam and region.

Over the past 60 years, the academy has constantly developed and acquired major achievements in music performance, research and training. It has honourably received many national awards and medals including Hồ Chí Minh Order 2014, Order of Independence, first class, in 2001 and 2006, and Order of Independence, second class, in 1996, to name a few.

Teachers and students from the academy have regularly won high awards in international music competitions like People’s Artist Đặng Thái Sơn, winning the first prize in Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland in 1980, and Bùi Công Duy, awarded with the first prize of Demidov International String Competition in 1993. — VNS