People's Artist Dang Thai Son: "Legend of piano playing" was awarded the title of People's Artist at the age of 26

Dang Thai Son is a famous Vietnamese pianist. Not only leaving an impression with his outstanding talent, Dang Thai Son is also known as an artist who was awarded the title of People's Artist when he was only 26 years old.

People's Artist Dang Thai Son (born July 2, 1958), he grew up in a family with a long tradition of artistic activities. His father is a poet and musician, his mother is a pianist, and his 3 older brothers work in art-related professions such as a school architect for the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam, and head of the Piano department at the Department of Music. Ho Chi Minh City Institute. Like his brothers, Dang Thai Son from a young age followed his mother to study piano at the Hanoi Conservatory of Music.

It must be said that Dang Thai Son's success today is partly due to the inspiration and love of art passed down from his family. "Childhood memories from the evacuation site with the sound of my mother's piano nourished my soul. Realizing the excitement of the melody coming from the piano, day and night I listened, I read, I "lived" with Chopin, then suddenly fell in love with Chopin..." - Mr. Dang Thai Son shared.

His mother and aunt were both the first women to pursue professional academic arts and receive formal training. Dang Thai Son's aunt is Ms. Thai Thi Lang, an early female composer and the first Vietnamese pianist to graduate from the Paris Conservatory, who toured in many countries around the world.

Meanwhile, his mother, Meritorious Artist Thai Thi Lien, is one of the first Vietnamese people to have a diploma at the Prague Conservatory of Music in the Czech Republic and is also a founding member of the Vietnam School of Music (formerly Hoc Hoc). Vietnam National Institute of Music), which trains big names for the Vietnamese music industry.

Realizing Dang Thai Son's inner talent, famous pianist Vladimir Natanson and Dmitry Alexandrovitch Bashkirov guided him during his studies at the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in Moscow (Russia). In 1980, at the time of the 10th Frédéric Chopin International Piano Competition, Dang Thai Son passed 4 rounds, ranked top 3 and won the first prize for the academy.

With the gold medal - first prize at the Frédéric Chopin international competition in Warsaw, Poland in 1980, Dang Thai Son became the first Asian to win this title.

He was still between tears and laughter and shared with the press: "Seeing that I am also a student at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of the Soviet Union, I am probably not that amateur. So I took the exam alone and took the train by myself." Coming to Poland, no family, no teachers, no friends, no professional performance costumes...".

Because he did not prepare in advance, Dang Thai Son said he almost lost the opportunity to change his life when the organizers immediately rejected his application because his biography was 'unprecedentedly short'. Only has full name, year of birth and school, and has never performed or owned any achievements or awards.

Participating in the competition is mainly because you want to experience the feeling of standing on stage, partly because you love this subject. But Dang Thai Son did not expect that, with the thought of his ordinary background, 'nothing to lose' would help him bring excitement, promote his talent and successfully conquer the jury. the most demanding of the prestigious competition.

After gaining a foothold in the piano music industry, instead of being busy touring and showing off his talent, Dang Thai Son chose to return to school and continue to cultivate and practice.

He added, "The prize is just an initial encouragement. After winning the prize, I have to improve my skills, constantly practice my skills, learn... My career is 'associated' with Chopin's music, but it is not Being 'locked' in there, you also have to change your playing style as if you are reinventing yourself. As a professional artist, you have to get used to the pressure. You can't always play well in order to bring the best performance for the audience to see. threshold".

Most of his performances are solo piano pieces by Frédéric Chopin, or pieces by romantic, impressionistic and profound musicians. He also performed piano concertos by all famous composers such as Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Grieg, Mozart, Rachmaninov,...

In 1984, pianist Dang Thai Son was awarded the title of People's Artist, after great efforts and contributions in the field of music. Most Vietnamese artists are awarded People's Artist awards when they are older after many years of contributions in the field of art. The most special case is pianist Dang Thai Son. He was the youngest Vietnamese artist to be awarded the title of People's Artist in 1984 when he turned 26 years old.

In addition, he was also awarded the first-class Labor Medal by the Vietnamese Government; The Polish Ministry of Culture awarded the 2018 Gold Medal of Cultural Merit.

Maintaining the spirit of eagerness to learn even though he has become a celebrity, Mr. Dang Thai Son has successfully maintained his pride, love of art, and persistent work for the past 30 years. Dang Thai Son has performed in more than 40 countries in Europe, Asia, America, Australia, with hundreds of world-famous orchestras.

Famous all over the world, he was invited to perform at famous concert halls such as Lincoln Center (New York), Barbican Center (London), Salle Pleyel (Paris), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Opera House (Sydney). , Suntory Hall (Tokyo)...

In addition, he is also a lecturer at prestigious universities such as the University of Montreal (Canada), Oberlin Conservatory (USA). Honored to be the first Asian to be invited to judge many prestigious international piano competitions. Mr. Dang Thai Son is one of three global artists chosen to perform at the Gala commemorating the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth in March 2010.

Returning to Vietnam, after many years of living in Canada, he was only 26 years old that year. Every year, he often returns to Vietnam to participate in major concerts. Dang Thai Son could not help but feel excited and proud when he was loved by many Vietnamese audiences, and was also given the title 'Legend of piano playing' by major newspapers.

He also participated in many activities in Russia and Vietnam such as raising money to support the rebuilding of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, which was seriously damaged after a fire. Dang Thai Son also established a charity fund with a group of Japanese friends, mainly to help the Hanoi Conservatory of Music. Dang Thai Son also called on the Japanese Government to support music books, musical instruments, etc. for some schools in Vietnam. Currently, Mr. Dang Thai Son is still living in the US and teaching at the University of Montréal.