Singing their praises: The Indonesian, 43-member PSM Unpar Tabela Harati choir team, conducted by Harry Priono, wins the Grand Prix Prize – the biggest award at the fourth Viet Nam International Choir Competition. — Photo courtesy Viet Nam International Choir Competition.

HOI AN (VNS) — The 43-member PSM Unpar Tabela Harati choir team from Indonesia won the highest prize at the fourth Viet Nam International Choir Competition.

The team, conducted by Harry Priono, earned gold prizes in the Folklore and Mixed Youth Choir categories – in addition to its first-place Grand Prix Prize – during the four-day competition. This is the third time the UNESCO-recognised heritage city of Hoi An has hosted the event.

The Hue Academy of Music Choir, conducted by Truong Ho Duy, won gold in the Mixed Choir category.

Vinschool One Choir received gold and Hoi An Children's Choir Club bagged silver in the Folklore category. A Vietnamese team also performed Ba Trao (holding paddle), a special dance from the coastal central region. The MPU School of Music Choir won first prize in the Chamber Choirs of Mixed Voices category.

The organising committee gave out 41 gold and 12 silver prizes.

The multilingual competition drew 40 teams from 15 countries and territories, with 1,400 singers and conductors.

Ralf Eisenbeiß, the artistic director of Interkultur and one of the competition's organisers, said music was a universal language everyone understood. It was a childhood passion through which people could find peace, nature and beauty.

Team members also joined in the Hoi An Full Moon Festival on Saturday with a public performance called International Melody. — VNS