14-year-old Vietnamese girl wins 2 world piano awards

In less than a month, Mai Nguyet Minh has won two prestigious awards at two world-famous piano competitions.

Mai Nguyet Minh, a first-year student of the 9th grade intermediate program at the Vietnam National Academy of Music, has just won two consecutive prestigious awards at the two largest piano competitions in the world in less than a month.

Mai Nguyet Minh is considered one of the most promising piano artists today.

The 7th International Piano Competition was held in early June in Milan, Italy. It is an annual competition, the most prestigious in the world, where more than 200 contestants from countries such as Italy, Hungary, Russia, Romania, Spain, Germany, Japan, etc. The contestants were divided into 3 groups: KIDS (5-10 years old), YOUNG (11-16 years old), SENIOR (17-28 years old) and each group was divided into age groups. Mai Nguyet Minh won second prize in group B, age group 14-16 (Minh is the youngest among the contestants in the same age group).

Immediately after that, at the 20th Val Tidone International Competitions held from June 8-18, 2017 in Piacenza, Italy, Nguyet Minh again excelled, achieving 99/100 points and winning First Prize. At the same time, Nguyet Minh was invited to perform at the Winner Concert on June 18, 2017 at the Piacenza Grand Theater.

Unlike the International Piano Competitions, Nguyet Minh belongs to group B (13-17 years old) and is not divided into smaller age groups, so Nguyet Minh is one of the youngest contestants in group B. The competition attracts 250 contestants from countries such as the US, Italy, Russia, Bosnia, Türkiye, Bulgaria, Japan, Thailand...

A performance by Mai Nguyet Minh.

Nguyet Minh shared about her love for piano right after winning the award: “I started learning piano at the age of 5 and was taught by artist, Master Pham Quynh Trang (daughter of People's Artist Quy Duong) from the first notes. Even though my parents knew I had a passion for piano early on, they decided not to let me pursue a professional music career, because no one in the family was an artist and they were worried that learning classical piano was really hard. In 2016, when I was about to enter 8th grade, my parents asked me about my future career aspirations. I answered that I wanted to become a piano teacher like Ms. Quynh Trang, so this year my parents allowed me to take the entrance exam to the Conservatory of Music.”

With a strong love for music, Nguyet Minh's diligence, effort and passion really convinced her parents. In September 2016, Nguyet Minh officially became a first-year student of the Intermediate Piano Department at the Vietnam National Academy of Music at the age when she should have been in her fifth year of the Intermediate program.

Under the guidance and inspiration of artist Pham Quynh Trang, in October 2016, Nguyet Minh participated in the first Ginastera International Music Competition in Thailand for the first time and won first prize. This award is an affirmation of Nguyet Minh's choice on the professional music path.

Young female artist receives award at world piano competition.

“At the International Piano Competition, Nguyet Minh played J. Haydn's Sonate in E minor. The piece is classical, requiring the player to be strict about the rhythm but still express the soft sophistication of the musical phrase. At the Val Tidone International Competitions, Nguyet Minh played 2 pieces. The first piece, Nocture in C sharp minor by F. Chopin. This is a romantic piece, requiring the pianist to have a high level of sophistication and sensitivity to be able to convey the soul of the piece; The second piece, The Lark by M. Glinka, is a piece imbued with Russian soul music, like birds fluttering in the wind. This piece requires high technique to express the musical image. All of these classic works were performed excellently by Nguyet Minh and won awards, I am very proud and confident in Nguyet Minh's musical future", artist Quynh Trang shared!./.

According to VOV