Hanoi’s first Classical Guitar Contest was closed with the one first-prize presented, but with many other prize slots unfilled, leaving judges stupefied and the audience stunned.
Nguyen Quoc Duy Anh won the first prize at Group B
The contest, which started on October 21 and ended on October 28, attracted over 30 candidates, divided into three categories: A, B and C. The jury included veteran local artists and also two famous foreign artists Australia’s Slava Grigoryan and Italy’s Ermanno Bottiglieri.
Group A had 17 participants, under the age of 13. Many of them have not yet taken professional guitar training courses, which showed during their performances. While two of the prizes were not given out because of this, the second prize was given to Ngo Hoang Long, the third to Le Anh Vu, Dong Ly Binh was given the consolation prize.
Group B, consisting of people aged from 13-16 years old, mostly were trained professionally. The requirements were also stricter, and this group had a higher bar to pass for entry. On top of what many called poor performances, both the second and fourth prize slots remained empty. The first prize was given to Nguyen Quoc Duy Anh and the third was for Dang Thuy Linh.
Group C was also widely disappointing, consisting of those aged over 16. Only two second prizes were given out, along with three consolations.
The well-known artist, Luu Quang Minh, head of the jury, said that the event was aimed at measuring actual musical talent, especially in the large cities of Hanoi and HCM City.
Dr. Ta Quang Dong, a member of the organising board, was cited by Tuoi Tre Newspaper as saying the poor showing reflects the lack of guitar training in the candidates, adding that most guitar academies start enrolling kids quite late, at the age of 13 and up. This, he said could be one of the issues that have caused disappointment at the event.
For a long time the art of playing guitar has been learnt and taught at cafes and homes. However, the judges of this event were making their decisions by academic standards.
Ngo Hoang Long