Hoang Trong Cuong from Vietnam 
Chungnam arts and Culture Foundation
QPlease introduce yourself briefly.
My name is Hoang Trong Cuong and I am from Vietnam. I play the "Đàn Bầu" and am a musician in the Hue Traditional Royal Theater of Art. I am also in charge as the Deputy Director of the Theater. I was born into a traditional family and my family is very familiar with the arts and music. My father is an actor, mother is a musician, elder brother is a moon shaped guitar instrumentalist, and younger sister is a singer. Playing the "Đàn Bầu" was very natural for me.
QHow did you come to participate in the CPI program?
There has been a long-term relationship in terms of cultural cooperation between Chungnam City and Hue City, where my theater is located. This was how I knew about the CPI program and participating in the CPI program was my desire. Five months in CPI program was not enough for me, but the experience has afforded me many interesting and wonderful memories together with the Korean people. As I have shared about the experience with my colleagues in the theater, they are all looking forward to participating in the CPI program next year.
QWhat activities did you do in Chungnam Arts and Culture Foundation?
I took part in the CPI program in Chungnam for nearly 5 months. During the CPI program, I have experienced many facets of Korean culture such as learning the Korean language, Korean traditional music, and Korean traditional dance including the dances of Buddhism. Visiting museums, historical sites, or cultural heritage sites was a good way of understanding Korean culture. Not only that, exploring Jeju Island, one of the famous nature attractions in Korea, was helpful to get familiar with Korean history and the variety of the country’s geography.
I had training sessions with Korean orchestras in Chungnam and performed in large and impressive shows several times. I participated in traditional music exchange sessions and discussed how to preserve traditional music with Korean professors.
QWhat do you consider the most important achievement in participating in the CPI program?
One of the significant achievements from the CPI program is the fact that I experienced 'cultural exchange' personally. The experience will remain a long-lasting and unforgettable memory. When people with different backgrounds speaking in different languages gathered, played various instruments from different countries together and created harmony, it could be explained with any words. I had to face many challenges during the whole process of creating harmony. This included the first meeting, practices, discussions, disagreements, and finding solutions. I believe this experience will help me develop my future career plans.
QWhat was the best part of the CPI program?
I enjoyed experiencing other countries' cultures. Learning different languages is an important element in learning their own cultures. I was happy to have the opportunity to learn the Korean language even though it was a bit of a challenge. As it is similar to the system of Vietnamese spelling, it was possible for me to understand comfortably.
Visiting cultural sites and museums is a convenient and intuitive way to gain a better understanding of Korean ancient culture. In particular, as I have frequented museums in Korea, I was able to learn how to preserve history and traditional craftworks effectively.
QWhat experiences do you want to share with your colleagues when you return to your country?
In the field of arts, I was able to acquire knowledge about Korean traditional music. Interestingly, as there is a similarity between Vietnamese and Korean music in instrumental performances, it was very convenient for me to conduct training and coordination.
The combination of Vietnamese and Korean musical instruments was even better than I had imagined. The harmonious combination of traditional musical instruments from different countries has created remarkable works. I want to share those feelings with my colleagues when I return to the orchestra at my theater in Vietnam.
