The family of Professor Dr. To Ngoc Thanh said he passed away on the morning of April 24 at the age of 90. The Folk Arts Association, where Mr. To Ngoc Thanh worked for many years in his scientific research career, also confirmed the information.
Prof. Dr. To Ngoc Thanh was born in 1934, from My Van (Hung Yen). He is the eldest son of famous artist To Ngoc Van. Having a father who is a famous painter, Prof. Dr. To Ngoc Thanh has studied fine arts since he was 6 or 7 years old. But since childhood, To Ngoc Thanh has had a passion for music.
GS. Dr. To Ngoc Thanh lived most of his life with ethnic minorities.
During the resistance war against the French, Mr. To Ngoc Thanh was Head of the Resistance Cultural Delegation in the years 1949-1951. At that time, young artist To Ngoc Thanh participated in many performances of the troupe.
In 1951, the Resistance Cultural Troupe was dissolved. Mr. Thanh passed the entrance exam to Viet Bac Music School, then continued to study the Composition Department, the first course of the Vietnam Music School.
In 1959, he was assigned to the Music Research Department of the Department of Arts, Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism). From this point on, he began his journey of collecting and researching ethnic folk music, living in harmony with ethnic minorities in the highlands.
After decades of traveling throughout the mountains, forests, and villages of the Northwest, Viet Bac, and Central Highlands, Professor Dr. To Ngoc Thanh has produced many excellent research projects such as: Northwest Thai folk music (1969), work Muong folk music (1971), documents Vietnamese Royal Music (2000), notes on culture and music – a massive work, more than 900 pages thick,…
Prof. Dr. To Ngoc Thanh took photos with his students at the end of 2023.
He also researched, collected, revised, enhanced, and incorporated into community cultural life 12 typical popular folk songs of ethnic minorities and 30 thematic folk songs of each ethnic group.
Prof. Dr. To Ngoc Thanh has received awards: First Prize awarded by the Folk Arts Association (1972), 4 First Prizes from the Asia-Pacific Cultural Center, State Prize for Literature art phase 1 in 2001.
He left many marks in his role as Chairman of the Vietnam Folk Arts Association.
In 2010, Professor Dr. To Ngoc Thanh took on the role of Chairman of the Vietnam Folk Arts Association. Many valuable projects of members throughout the country have been sponsored and given timely prizes, contributing to the presence and shining of Vietnam’s folk cultural resources.
The Folk Arts Association has a comprehensive plan to collect folk culture from 2000 to 2020 in order to promptly preserve folk cultural values before the risk of extinction.
