Do Hoang Linh Chi, 17, will represent Vietnam in the Steinway International Youth Competition for Asian countries to be held in Singapore on July 26.

The competition is an important biannual event sponsored by Steinway&Sons, a manufacturer of pianos, which aims to identify, encourage, and promote young pianists in the formative stages of their careers.

The qualifying round, the second of its kind in Vietnam, is open to all Vietnamese in the 6-17 age group.

Chi, a student of the National Conservatory of Music, won the first prize last week, after successfully performing Sonate in C Major Op 2 No. 3 by Beethoven, Tarantella "Venezia e Napoli" No. 3 by Liszt, and Etude Tableau D-minor Op 33 No. 5 by Rachmaninov.

One of Vietnam's most talented pianists, Chi won the first prize at the ASEAN International Concerto Competition in Indonesia in 2009, among other prizes at home and abroad.

She also performs with the Vietnam Symphony Orchestra as well as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City symphony orchestras.

While Chi is the winner of the category for the 11-17 age group, the first prize for competitors aged between 6 and 10 went to Nguyen Ba Tan, a 10-year-old student from the National Conservatory of Music.

In Asia, the Steinway regional finals hosted by Steinway Gallery Singapore includes national finalists from the Republic of Korea, Chinese Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia and Thailand.

This year, the Steinway Regional Finals Asia Pacific will be held at the concert hall of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. The organiser will also feature the first-ever voting segment in a classical music competition. Members of the public will be introduced to a voting platform where they can vote for their favourite contestant.

The winner will appear in a Steinway world concert to be held in Hamburg, Germany, with representatives from European nations.-VNA