The first HCM City Piano Competition kicked off on June 13 with the participation of about 200 contestants. 

RoK pianist Joo Eun-young is among jurors at the HCM City Piano Competition 2017.

The competition is hosted by Conservatory of HCM City, and is open to all young professional and amateur pianists from six to 24 years until June 18. 

The professional pianists are from national music schools such as Vietnam National Academy of Music (VNAM); Hanoi College of Arts; Conservatory of HCM City and Hue Academy of Music. They are joined by nine others from Malaysia and the Republic of Korea to compete at the First Group.

Second Group will be for amateur pianists across the nation, from places such as Hai Phong, Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa, Hue, Da Nang, Khanh Hoa’s Nha Trang, Dak Lak and southern provinces of Dong Nai and Kien Giang. 

"The conservatory has held a piano festival in the previous years, but we’ve never held a formal competition. We wanted to organise a professional contest giving an opportunity for piano students to meet and exchange. It will attract music talents and popular classical musicians as well," said Dr Ta Quang Dong, the conservatory’s principal and head of organisation board. 

"We hope the competition will be held annually and will become a destination for young pianists from all over the world." 

The competition will be judged by Vietnamese and international professors of piano, including Prof Dr Tran Thu Ha - former principal of VNAM; German Frank Reich and Korean pianist Joo Eun-young.

Professor Reich won the First Prize at the National German Competition in 1980. He has taught at Ettlingen School of Music; Suwon - University in Seoul, the RoK; Minzu University of Beijing and Shenzhen Arts School in China; and at Sungshin Women’s University in Seoul since 2016. 

He is president of the European Union of Music Competition for Youth and managing director of Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists. 

Young graduated with distinction from the Vienna State Conservatory of Music in 2000. She obtained a doctorate degree with excellent credits from the Gnessin Academy of Music in Moscow. She has won many international prizes including top honours at Austria’s prestigious Allegro Vivo international piano competition in 2001.

Vietnamese Professor Ha has served on the juries of several regional piano competitions. She graduated from the Kiev Conservatory in Russia and earned a doctorate from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. Many of her students have been winners or finalists in competitions in Italy, Australia, Indonesia, Japan and the RoK.

VNA