Pulling the strings: Music teacher and researcher Nguyen Vinh Bao is among musicians who were granted the Phan Chau Trinh Awards 2015 on Tuesday. — Photo honvietquochoc.com.vn

HCM CITY  (VNS)  — The Phan Chau Trinh Awards 2015 in HCM City on Tuesday recognised several talented musicians, most notably 97-year-old music teacher and researcher Nguyen Vinh Bao for his contribution to research and preservation of traditional southern music.

Maestro Bao, who plays the traditional dan co (two-chord fiddle) and dan tranh (16-chord zither) instruments, has performed Vietnamese music in many countries. He worked as a lecturer for the University of Illinois from 1970 to 1972.

The culture and education prize was also shared with educator Pham Toan for his research work on new teaching methods in primary education.

Pham Hoang Quan received a research prize for his work on the East Sea. Quan, 49, spent more than 10 years to complete his work, which is used in many universities and institutes.

The Vietnamese studies prize was given to an American professor, author and cultural researcher Keith Weller Taylor. And the translation prize went to Nguyen Nghi.

The annual Phan Chau Trinh Awards, launched in 2008 by Phan Chau Trinh Culture Foundation, aims to honour individuals and groups and their contributions to Vietnamese culture, translation, and research and Vietnamese studies.

The awards honour the national hero, poet and cultural expert Phan Chau Trinh, a native of central Quang Nam Province.

Born in 1872, Phan Chau Trinh was a reformer who fought in the resistance movement against the French when he was very young. He devoted all of his life to the country's modernisation cause.

The Phan Chau Trinh Culture Foundation is managed by the Viet Nam Union of Science and Technology Associations. — VNS