Artisan Thanh Chuong opens a free Vi Giam singing class

(Baonghean.vn) - With a passion for Vi Giam folk songs, excellent artist Vo Thi Van (54 years old) in hamlet 4, Ngoc Son commune (Thanh Chuong) opened a free folk song class at home, attracting many children in the district to come learn to sing.

Every day, regardless of morning or afternoon, passing by Mrs. Van's house, next to Highway 46, people hear the singing and cheerful laughter of children coming from the house. That is the free folk song class of "artist Mrs. Van".

Although it is called a class, in reality, Mrs. Van uses the living room of her house, sometimes even the front porch, to spread out mats for the children to sit and learn to sing. Each class, depending on the time and work conditions of each child, has from 10 to 15 students who love singing, aged from 5 to 17, participating.

Free folk song class of "artist Mrs. Van". Photo: Huy Thu

What is special is that not only does this class not require tuition, but Mrs. Van also serves lunch to the children at noon. According to Mrs. Van: "Because they study all day, it is time-consuming to travel, and the weather is hot, so the family organized lunch at home for the children's convenience. After taking a nap, they can study right away in the afternoon."

Talking about her class, Ms. Van said: “In the past, I also taught singing to many people, at clubs, art troupes, and extracurricular activities of schools, but starting in May this year, I officially opened a free folk singing class at home for children. I teach singing with passion, hoping to contribute to instilling in the young generation the love of Vi Giam, so that they can continue, preserve and spread the heritage of their ancestors.”

In the class, Ms. Van taught the students traditional folk songs (vi phuong vai, vi do dua, vi do dua song La, vi do dua song Lam, giam xam, giam ve, giam Duc Son, giam ke...), innovative melodies, familiar vi and giam folk songs... In addition, Ms. Van also instructed the students on performance style, how to breathe life into characters, how to handle situations on stage... From this class, 4 students entered the preliminary round of the folk music and drama actor class of the Department of Performing Arts to go to the next round.

Meritorious Artist Vo Thi Van - the aunt of the special class. Photo: Huy Thu

Tran Thi Thuy Linh (16 years old), from Thanh Lam commune, a 10D student at Dang Thai Mai High School, has been attending Ms. Van’s class since the beginning, having to travel more than 20 km every day. Linh said: “I haven’t been to Ms. Van’s class for long, but I feel like I’ve learned a lot, from breathing techniques, vibrato to rhythm… Compared to before, I sing much better now.”

As a family with 2 children (Tran Mai Hang, Tran Dang Sang) studying at Mrs. Van's house, Ms. Nguyen Thi Chien (36 years old) in Hamlet 8, Thanh Thuy Commune shared: "Knowing that Mrs. Van opened a folk singing class, I sent my children to study right away. Since starting school, I have seen the children's obvious progress, not only are they passionate about singing folk songs, but their morals and manners have also improved, and they care more about their families. It is thanks to the children absorbing the content of those folk songs."

It is known that Ms. Vo Thi Van has made many contributions to the local arts movement (performing, collecting, compiling, and transmitting folk songs), helping to spread Vi Giam folk songs in the community. She has won the "Outstanding Actress" award in festivals, and has been awarded many certificates of merit at the provincial and inter-provincial levels of Nghe An - Ha Tinh. She is currently the head of the Ngoc Son Commune Folk Song Club, a member of the Nghe An Provincial Folk Arts Association, and an Excellent Artist.

Huy Thu