VietNamNet Bridge – Musician Ngoc Anh entertained local and foreign audiences in Ha Noi on the weekend with a performance on traditional stone instruments.

Musical tradition: Artists from the Muong ethnic group perform on the group’s traditional bamboo flutes at the opening ceremony of the exhibition on the traditional musical instruments of Viet Nam’s ethnic groups on Friday.

“I can perform many kinds of songs on my stones,” said Anh, adding that stone instruments create a crisp sound with distant echoes that can be very expressive.

Anh has toured around the world with his stone instruments, showing audiences that stone slabs of various lengths can be brought to life by a skilled musician.

Anh will continue performing until Wednesday in the capital city as part of an exhibition on the traditional musical instruments of Viet Nam’s ethnic groups.

Hundreds of traditional instruments from across the country are on display at the show, including instruments that have been recognised by UNESCO as examples of world culture heritage. These include cong chieng gongs from Tay Nguyen (the Central Highlands), nha nhac (court music) from the royal city of Hue and ca tru (ceremonial singing) and quan ho (love duets).

Visitors to the exhibition will also have the chance to learn about the instrument’s history and mechanics and find out how musicians often upgrade and augment their instruments.

Composer Dao Dang Hoan, deputy director of the Arts and Performing Department, said the performance programme in conjunction with the exhibition also includes a concert of court music and performances of khen (pan-pip) of Mong ethnic group, Khmer instruments, gongs and dan bau (one-string zither) solos. Some 300 ethnic students and youths from arts, sports and tourism schools will meet tomorrow to perform traditional dances and songs to celebrate the Party’s birthday, the coming of Spring and the country’s doi moi (renewal) process A contest for teenagers to see who could play a traditional instrument the best was also held as part of the exhibition.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News