Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong has become the first Vietnamese person to serve as part of the judging panel of the international Tchaikovsky competition. (Photo: Vietnamnet.vn)

He is working alongside 11 other experts worldwide to judge the piano category of the competition this year.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ta Quang Dong, 57, graduated from the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in 1988. After returning to the nation he was subsequently appointed as deputy director of Hue Conservatory, before then being made director of the Conservatory of Ho Chi Minh City.

At present he is serving as the Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

With plenty of experience in training students to win prizes at international contests and serving as a judge in many global piano competitions, he received an invitation from the organizers of the international Tchaikovsky competition this year.

The international Tchaikovsky competition was first held back in 1958, with the competition being named after Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

The classical music event takes place every four years in Russia for pianists, violinists, and cellists aged 16 to 32 and for singers aged 19 to 32. In 2011, the competition was first organized in two cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Past editions have started the careers of plenty of renowned musicians such as pianists Van Cliburn and Vladimir Ashkenazy, violinists Gidon Kremer and Victoria Mullova, cellists Mario Brunello and David Geringas, as well as singers Vladimir Atlantov and Elena Obraztsova.

This year marks the 17th edition of the competition which began on June 19 and is scheduled to last through to July 1.