Vietnamese Composer’s Works Wows Int’l Guitar Competition In Berlin

The winner will receive a certificate and a prize of a Roge Yang guitar worth 8,000 euros, they will also be invited to be a member of the judges for the next competition season.

Professor Dang Ngoc Long (left) awarded the first prize to the Italian contestant Luca Romanelli, the second prize to the Spaniard Samnuel Beluzan Rodriguez (red shirt), and the third prize to the contestant from Paraguay Raul Rolon. Photo: TTXVN

The Guitar Competition and Festival Berlin 2022, which started in 2006, is a playground for classical guitarists from all over the world, taking place every two years. The event is co-sponsored by the foreign ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Goethe-Institut, the German Musicians' Union, the guitar manufacturer Roge Yang and a number of cultural associations in Germany.

This year’s event saw the competition among fifteen contestants who are students from professional music schools from 11 countries, namely Italy, Germany, Spain, Paraguay, Poland, Austria, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Chile, the Republic of Korea, and France.

Vietnamese professor and guitarist Dang Ngoc Long performs at the finale of the International Guitar Competition and Festival Berlin 2022. (Photo: VNA)

Candidates must be students of professional music schools, and not over 32 years old. Previously, due to the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the contestants in rounds 1 and 2 recorded their works and sent them to the jury.

In both qualifying rounds, they are Faust - Sonata by Professor, guitarist Dang Ngoc Long, Rector of the Berlin School of Music - Gesundbrunn, who is also the Chairman of the Arts Council, and a competition jury. Only the contestants who make it to the 3rd round will be able to perform in Berlin.

The finale featured guitar performances of several Vietnamese folk songs, such as “Nui rung Tay Nguyen” (Central Highlands’ mountains and forests), “Nguoi o dung ve” (My darling, please don’t leave) and “Di cay” (Paddy transplanting), by Prof. Dao Ngoc Long and two winners in 2014 and 2020 from Denmark and Belarus.

Professor and musician Dang Ngoc Long said, after 9 times as Chairman of the Art Council of International Guitar Competition and Festival Berlin 2022, he rated the level of the contestants participating in this year's competition is excellent, as they brilliant completed his classical piece of music Faust–Sonata, inspired by a tragedy by Germany’s Johann Wolfgang Goethe, during the first and second qualifying rounds of the competition.

Photo: TTXVN

Talking about his future plan, Long said he wanted to introduce the International Guitar Competition to Vietnam on the 20th anniversary of this world-class event.

Vietnamese folk songs composed or arranged by him and performed by award-winning foreign artists in his homeland are the greatest happiness and pride for international friends.

Meanwhile, the head of the contest's organizing committee, journalist Jürgen Buch, said that the contest was not only unique but also very special because it was a combination of traditional European and Asian music. This was also a challenge for the contestants, as it required knowledge, skills, and a deep understanding of the music and style.

Referring to the plan for the next season, Jürgen Buch said, “The first person we want to mention is Professor and artist Dang Ngoc Long because we want to bring the musical caravan to his homeland, along with the winners of previous seasons to have a proper competition.”

"Dang Ngoc Long's works are very special and unique. They are a collection of surprises from his life, which surprised us too. He used traditional Vietnamese elements mixed with European nuances,” Jürgen Buch said.

Photo: Vietnam Plus

Niklas Johansen (Denmark), the contestant who won the first prize in the 2014 contest with the piece “Ru con Nam Bo”, which was composed by Professor Dang Ngoc Long for guitar, shared that the Professor’s works for candidates always have very high technique and difficulty, especially Vietnamese folk songs, which are quite unique because they carry the typical melody and rhythm of Vietnamese music.

At this year’s competition, the performance of guest artists, such as Professor Dang Ngoc Long, and the two winners of 2014 and 2020 (from Denmark and Belarus), brought Vietnamese folk songs such as “Nui rung Tay Nguyen”, “Nguoi o dung ve”, “Di cay”, etc, to the world. And once again, Vietnam's music culture shines in the heart of Europe.

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