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| Thai Tue Nghi performing in the finals of the "Festival Piano Talents 2024" national competition |
Thai Tue Nghi is the daughter of Ms. Phung My Hanh, an architect, who was trained, worked, and researched in Japan. However, Ms. Phung My Hanh is also a well-known figure in the music field in Hue as the owner of a music lounge that specializes in organizing large and small music events for domestic and oversea singers in recent times. The most recent is the performance of Trinh Nam Son, a musician. This means that Tue Nghi also has a bit of “family background” and is not an amateur.
Ms. Hanh said that Tue Nghi began studying piano seriously in October 2023, which is only about 7months. “When I took Tue Nghi to the piano class, she was only 4 years old,” Ms. Hanh recalled. At that time, her teacher said that Nghi was still young and the bones of her fingers were not yet firm or strong enough to press the piano keys, which were heavy. Afraid that the force of the fingers on the piano would be too strong and the bones would not develop well and be misaligned, the teacher encouraged Nghi to play on a light electronic piano. However, when she tried the piano acoustic, Ms. Hanh saw that her child was enthusiastic and not at all hard, so she decided to let her study right away.
“What I worried about the most was that she didn't know how to read at that time, so she would have difficulties in accessing the musical notation letters and beat numbers written on the sheet music. But I didn't expect that she could read and remember so well. I was also worried that a 4-year-old child often find it not possible to sit still and concentrate on doing something for more than 5 minutes. But I didn't expect that Tue Nghi could always stay focused and sit for hours to finish her practice,” Ms. Hanh said. “Of course, the results that Tue Nghi achieved are due to her mother's hard work and ‘practice hard’” are the word Ms. Hanh uses when talking about the process of learning the piano with her daughter Tue Nghi. Ms. Hanh always sits beside Tue Nghi when she practices. With every new and difficult piece of music, the mother and daughter have to sit together for hours to practice until they can play it before they leave the piano.
At the recently concluded “Festival Piano Talents 2024” national competition, in all 3 rounds, Tue Nghi was in the same group with contestants aged 9 and older. Therefore, Tue Nghi's winning of the Gold Medal of the competition can be considered a miracle. And this miracle comes first from the factor, as commented by Ms. Huong Giang, a lecturer at Hue Academy of Music and Tue Nghi's piano teacher, is that “she has a sense of music, rhythm in her head and a very good musical sensibility. Tue Nghi's playing is soft and soulful for to her age. In addition, her stage presence is very dignified and confident. But above all, in contrast to when she practices, whenever she goes on stage, when there are many people watching, listening, and applauding, Tue Nghi completely becomes a different person, her playing starts to attract attention... For Tue Nghi, going to competitions is like performing for people to listen to, not a pressure to compete!”.
Ms. Hanh jokingly said that Tue Nghi - the only 5-year-old contestant to win the gold medal at the “Festival Piano Talents 2024” national competition - was an “accidental incident”. This is because initially, the two mother and daughter went to the competition with the mentality of “gaining experience”, as Tue Nghi was the youngest contestant in the competition and had a very short time of learning the piano compared to the other contestants in the groups. “This first medal serves as motivation for Tue Nghi to always strive forward and practice incessantly. It is also joy and happiness for me. Tue Nghi's first time achieving success in a big event means that her hard work, perseverance, and a bit of talent have been recognized, noticed, and known for future performances in Hue and across the country, be it large or small. This is also the motivation and inspiration for other parents, both those who have and those who are still wondering if it is suitable for their young children to learn the piano, and what they can achieve...”, Ms. Hanh said.