Amateur artist preserves quan ho folk singing

In order to preserve the folk arts of her native province, Ta Thi Hinh teaches free classes about the subject in order to share her passion, Nguyen Thanh Ha reports.
Ta Thi Hinh is widely known by quan ho (love duets) lovers far beyond the borders of her native northern province of Bac Ninh. Her passion for handing down folk art to younger generations has seen her open classes on quan ho singing.
In 1998 Hinh and her friend Ta Thi Khanh decided to open a free class at her house to teach folk arts.
"We aimed to maintain and preserve folk arts, including romantic poems and unique vocal traditions left by our ancestors.
"My students range from first grader little girls and boys to middle-aged people. They can come to the class in their spare time," Hinh told Viet Nam News.
She has spent VND7 million (US$387) on costumes for her students.
"The most difficult thing about teaching quan ho is how to choose a couple of singers (one man and one woman) to sing together. They must share the same feeling and passion in singing the folk songs.
"For teenagers I often teach them how to sing solo, but for adults I must arrange them to sing together."
Hinh said she is energised listening to her students’ singing and is always willing to offer creative advice.
As a result, Hinh’s efforts have paid off, as hundreds of people in Bac Ninh (the birth place of quan ho) have taken folk arts to their hearts. Many of them earn a living based on performing quan ho nationwide.
Nguyen Thi Vuong who won second prize at a folk song contest in Bac Ninh in 2007 said "Artist Hinh is very enthusiastic when teaching us. She ignores bad weather, and if it’s pouring with rain, she’ll visit our house if we’re put off by the weather."
"Seeing her tireless efforts, many of us have taken up the opportunity to learn from her. She teaches us many new and interesting lessons that I’ve never heard before."
Doan Trung Kien of the Bac Ninh Quan ho Folk Arts Troupe who won a silver medal at the 2009 National Love Duet Contest, said "Artist Hinh teaches the little details in communication used by artists in the past, such as the way how they sang replies to each other, how to walk and how to express the love duets more powerfully during a performance."
"I feel I’m very lucky to have learned from her because apart from common singing techniques, she teaches performance techniques I’ve never heard of before," said Kien.
Hinh said she loved quan ho since she was a little girl. It was handed down from her mother.
"Seeing my passion, my mother taught me very carefully, and we often sang together for many years, until my mother died when I was 16."
Hinh has done solo performances since then but "I know that my performance lacked refinement," she admitted.
At the age of 35, Hinh began to be received by famous artists in her village including Nguyen Dinh Dua and Nguyen Dinh Lut in Bac Ninh’s Chau Khe Village to help her improve her singing.
These artists have passed away but their singing techniques are still being handed down to younger generations by Hinh.
"Ancient quan ho is quite different from modern performances because lien anh (male artist) and lien chi (female artist) must know hundreds of quan ho melodies which they can sing to each other.
"At parties such as engagements, weddings or congratulations on someone’s longevity or new house warming, love duets singers have to sing through the night without any interruption.
"If a partner can’t sing a reply, they must choose other partners to sing until the party ends."
"There has about more than 300 ancient quan ho songs but I have only handed down half of them to my students," said Hinh.
Apart from teaching free of charge to her villagers, Hinh still teaches folk arts to pupils at the Vo Cuong Secondary School and children at the Bac Ninh Culture House. She also joins teaches at the Bac Ninh College of Culture and Arts.
"I’m very happy to have fired the passion of learning love duets among younger people."
Her efforts have been paid off, as in 1995 she was awarded the artisan and in 2001, the Artist of Merit award by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
This was the first time that an amateur artist had been awarded with an official honour by the ministry, said a ministry official.
Hinh has won three gold, two silver and one bronze medals at different national professional and unofficial folk contests.
Now aged 69, apart from teaching quan ho, Hinh has joined the Bac Ninh Quan Ho Club where she has written 225 folk poems and 300 love duets songs for the provincial museum to preserve.
"I hope I remain sufficiently healthy to be able to write more songs and poems to teach the younger generation, I don’t want to lose this intangible cultural heritage of humanity."