Anh was sent to study at a music school in Slovakia’s capital Bratislava after graduating from the Vietnam National Academy of Music in 1988.

She obtained a master’s degree and became a lecturer. She also worked at the Paris Conservatory and was a student of late Vietnamese musicologist Professor Trần Văn Khê.

"I studied musical composition under a famous Slovakian composer in the hope of creating works featuring Vietnamese melodies for international artists to play, as I believe music is a global language," Hoang Thi Kieu Anh said.

Anh was honoured during Author Day in Bratislava in 2015, and performed operas in Vietnamese at the Festival Forfest in the Czech Republic two years later.

Her works are a combination of Vietnamese traditional music genres, including ca trù, tuồng, and chèo, and European culture.

"I always think of Vietnam when I live far away. My love for the country has been a source of inspiration," she said.

She has composed about 100 works so far, many of which are popular in Slovakia and performed at various international music festivals.

Two of her compilations have been introduced as learning materials at a music school in Bratislava./.

VNA