Vietnamese talented violist Bui Cong Duy was awarded Honorary Professor of the National Academy of Arts of Kazakhstan on April 26.

Violinist Bui Cong Duy. Photo courtesy of the artist

Le Anh Tuan, Director of the Vietnam National Academy of Music, said this is a great honor for the Vietnam National Academy of Music and the national academic music.

“This promotion is a special recognition of the academy to Vietnamese artist Bui Cong Duy. This former Soviet Union country is considered to have trained many talented violinists for Russia and the whole world,” he stated.

Meritorious artist Bui Cong Duy is the second Vietnamese artist to be conferred this special title after pianist Dang Thai Son, the Vietnamese recipient of an honorary doctorate from the Music Academy in Bydgoczsz, Poland and the honorary Professor at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China.

In the past, the Kazakh National Academy of Arts awarded this title to only a few typical violinists, such as Victor Tretyakov, winner of the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition in 1966; Eduard Grach, winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1962; and Edward Schmieder, a famous American pedagogue.

In recent years, Duy has been invited several times by the Kazakh Academy to serve on the juries of international violin competitions, give lectures, and perform as a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra of Kazakhstan.

From left to right:  Le Anh Tuan, Director of the Vietnam National Academy of Music; Aiman Musakhajaeva - Director of Kazakh National Academy of Arts and Dr, artist Bui Cong Duy. Photo: KazNua

Violinist Bui Cong Duy, 42, is considered a musical phenomenon, especially after winning first prize at the 1997 International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Violinists in St. Petersburg, Russia.

His other competition successes include first prize at the Zakhar Bron International Violin Competition in Novosibirsk, Russia (1995), first prize at the Demidov International Violin Competition in Ekaterinburg, Russia (1993), and first prize at the Vietnamese National Music Competition "Autumn" in Hanoi (1990), among others.

Bui Cong Duy is the Deputy Rector for Concert Activities at the Vietnam National Academy of Music. Since 2015, he has been Artistic Director of Vietnam Classical Players and Executive Director of Vietnam Connection Music Festival.