Viet Nam News
HA NOI — The fourth National Ca Tru Festival will be held with the participation of ca tru troupes from the whole nation in the central province of Ha Tinh from November 1-5.
The festival is co-held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourim and the Ha Tinh People’s Committee aiming to review national efforts to preserve and develop ca tru. Ca tru is a complex form of sung poetry found in the north of Viet Nam in the 11th century using lyrics written in traditional Vietnamese poetic forms.
Ca tru was added by UNESCO to the list of intantangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2009.
"The festival organisation aims to bring ca tru off the list of heritage in need of urgent safeguarding," said Pham Minh Huong, deputy-director of Viet Nam Institute of Musicology at the press conference held in Ha Noi on Wednesday.
"It is one of important tasks Vietnamese government is committed to implementing in the dossier submitted to UNESCO."
The festival will gather ca tru troupes from 13 out of the 15 provinces that share the tradition of ca tru, including Ha Noi, the northern province of Hai Duong, the central province of Quang Binh and HCM City. Only Vinh Phuc and Nam Dinh provinces in the north of the country will not participate at the festival.
"Viet Nam signed the UNESCO convention for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage, so there is no reason for Vinh Phuc and Nam Dinh provinces’ absence," said veteran musician and researcher Dang Hoanh Loan at the press conference held in Ha Noi on Wednesday. "The two provinces are two of the biggest hubs for ca tru. They should take responsibility to participate in the national festival."
Each ca tru troupe including one singer and two musicians will perform a repertoire which will last from 45 minutes to 90 minutes. The competition repertoire will include obligatory and open performances.
The performers will be required to sing at least three forms of ca tru given by the festival organisation and one by poet and scholar Nguyen Cong Tru (1778-1858). The open performance will be based on the typical cultural characteristics of each province.
This year the festival will focus on young ca tru singers because many veteran singers who participated in the first festival in 2008 are too old or passed away. To compete at the festival, the young singers must know how to sing 10 forms of ca tru, according to Loan.
"Many of them now can sing two forms called Thien Thai and Hat Tho which are very difficult," he said. "I think it is a good sign for the protection and development of ca tru."
A combination of ca tru and pop music will be featured for the first time at the fourth festival’s opening ceremony on November 1 at Ha Tinh’s Centre for Culture and Cinema, 21 Phan Dinh Phung Street. — VNS