Tran Van Khê Award Honors 2 Collectives, 6 Individuals Preserving Vietnamese Traditional Music

On July 31, in Ho Chi Minh City, the second Tran Van Khê Award ceremony honored two collectives and six individuals for their outstanding contributions to the preservation and promotion of national music. The award was established from the will of the late Professor Tran Van Khê, a renowned Vietnamese music scholar, with the aim of passing on the value of Vietnamese traditional music to future generations. The ceremony, held at the Southern Women's Museum, recognized the Hue Royal Traditional Art Theatre and the Xẩm 48h group as collectives, along with six individuals. Professor Tran Van Khê passed away in 2015, having expressed a wish during his lifetime to establish a fund for annual scholarships and awards to encourage research in national music. This legacy led to the establishment of the 'Tran Van Khê Scholarship Fund' in 2021, with the first awards ceremony in 2023 granting nine scholarships and six prizes. The selection process involved notifying educational institutions and organizations specializing in national music, followed by a review of nominees by an expert committee based on criteria set by the scholarship fund. Professor Tran Van Khê (1921-2015) was a leading music scholar in Vietnam who dedicated his life to preserving, disseminating, and elevating Vietnamese traditional music to global recognition. His research contributed to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage recognition of many Vietnamese ethnic cultural and artistic forms, such as 'Nha Nhac Cung Dinh Hue' (Hue Royal Court Music). This award not only commemorates the professor's immense contributions to the music world but also encourages the activities of individuals and groups involved in the research, education, performance, and dissemination of national music, with a particular emphasis on preserving traditional elements and ancestral techniques passed down by artisans.