Quan họ will be performed before students and labourers in HCM City and southern provinces through a programme called Nét Đẹp Quan Họ (Beautiful Quan Họ),  launched by artists of the HCM City Heritage Quan Họ Club. VNA/VNS Photo by Thái Hùng

HCM CITY— A quan họ (love duet) singing programme will be held at cultural houses and traditional art clubs in HCM City, Lê Tú Cẩm, chairman of the HCM City Cultural Heritage Association, said. 

The programme, called Nét Đẹp Quan Họ (Beautiful Quan Họ), will offer quan họ performances and singing training by professional artists from the city’s Heritage Quan Họ Club, which is under the association, and leading art troupes. 

More than 107 old songs of quan họ will also be staged and rehearsed during the first period of the four-month event. 

Heritage Quan Họ Club opened in 2018 wirh the aim of popularising quan họ not only among theatres and tourist sites, but also local people, particularly youth. 

The club’s 20 members have travelled around the city giving performances for thousands of secondary students and labourers working in factories and industrial zones. 

“We will try our best to introduce the art closer to city people,” said artist Nguyễn Thanh Tâm, head of the club, who has more than 15 years of experience in the art. 

Under the programme, Tâm and the club’s veteran artists, including Nguyễn Thuỷ Nhanh, Lê Thị Hồng Vân and Vũ Trung Kiên, will travel and offer performances with a true style of quan họ for farmers living in the Cửu Long (Mekong) River Delta provinces.

Quan họ is a folk art form originating from the northern province of Bắc Ninh. It combines various elements, including music, lyrics and costumes. The art features the culture and lifestyle of people in the region formerly called Kinh Bắc. 

People sing quan họ at traditional festivals and celebrities. Male and female singers perform together and show their feelings while singing meaningful lyrics. 

The singing represents different kinds of relationships such as love, friendship and family. 

In 2009, quan họ was recognised by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

The programme, called Nét Đẹp Quan Họ, began on Sunday. —VNS