• About Jeff von der Schmidt, the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble & LA International New Music Festival

Sound Travels with Jeff von der Schmidt

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Sound Travels with Jeff von der Schmidt

Category Archives: Halong Bay

Opposites Attract: The Music of Alexandra du Bois and Vũ Nhật Tân

12 Saturday May 2018

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Alexandra du Bois, Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Composers, Contemporary Music, Diplomacy, Halong Bay, Hamburg, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Kent Nagano, Kurt Rohde, LA International New Music Festival, Nguyen Thien Dao, Ton That Tiet, Uncategorized, Vu Nhat Tan

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Alexandra du Bois, Apollo Chamber Players, David Harrington, Gabriela Ortiz, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Ken Burns, Kent Nagano, Kronos String Quartet, Kurt Rohde, Southwest Chamber Music, Van Anh Vo, Vu Nhat Tan

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Vũ Nhật Tân and Alexandra du Bois in Los Angeles in 2010.

I am very happy, as in a proud new music grandfather happy, that the Apollo Chamber Players in Houston, Texas are inspired by our 2010 Ascending Dragon Festival and Cultural Exchange, a landmark project that Jan Karlin and I were proud to produce for the U.S. State Department under Secretary Hillary Clinton. And we did indeed accomplish the goals of the Obama Administration, to establish long term cultural relationships between Việt Nam and the United States, a new 21st century chapter, but this time together as friends and not enemies.

In 2010, Ascending Dragon was a six week festival in both countries. In May of 2012, I brought Vũ Nhật Tân and Alexandra du Bois together again for our first Los Angeles International New Music Festival. Since October 2015, Jan and I have made a long term and ongoing commitment as the first Americans appointed as artistic advisors by the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture. Our mission is to guide and facilitate the international development of the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble. And now in 2018, Apollo Chamber Players is reuniting composers Vũ Nhật Tân and Alexandra du Bois, two of the Ascending Dragon composers-in-residence, with a concert sharing their music, deep in the heart of Texas.

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Where the Dragon Descends: A Trip to Hạ Long Bay, Part Three

27 Tuesday Dec 2016

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Halong Bay, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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Au Co Tours, Halong Bay, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Ho Xuan Hưởng, Nom, Nom Calligraphy, Poetry, Vietnam

The view out of my cabin window.

The morning view out of my cabin window.

Look and love everyone, whoever sees this landscape is stunned Hồ Xuân Hưởng

To understand Việt Nam, keep in mind that poetry remains a national pastime. Rhymes, puns, word play, metrical schemata, aphorisms, banners all over the place, all blend to create an identity that blooms into daily graceful utterance. I’ve never seen people come up with better titles for things than the Vietnamese.

Do you know Hồ Xuân Hưởng’s poem Questions for the Moon?

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Where the Dragon Descends: A Trip to Hạ Long Bay, Part Two

21 Wednesday Dec 2016

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Cat Ba Island, Halong Bay, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Nom Calligraphy, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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Asia, Au Co, Cat Ba Island, Halong Bay, Han Tuyen, Kimngoc Tran, Nom Calligraphy, Southeast Asia, Tran Dynasty, Trung Sisters, Vietnam

Jan on the Au Co as it docks for Cat Ba Island.

Jan on the Âu Cơ as the boat docks for Cát Bà Island.

My last post ended with our Hạ Long Bay boat docking at Cát Bà Island. In English, Cát Bà translates to Women’s Island.

As Jan and I prepared to disembark, we reflected quietly about the extraordinary role of women in Việt Nam’s history. Reaching back centuries, female military leadership against Chinese invaders remains embedded in the collective national unconscious. Việt Nam’s story about women strikes us as unique, and might well be one of the most compelling of any country on earth.

You question women in the military as armed combatants? Are you kidding me?

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Where the Dragon Descends: A Trip to Hạ Long Bay, Part One

13 Tuesday Dec 2016

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Buddhism, Cat Ba Island, Halong Bay, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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Anthony Bourdain, Arnold Schoenberg, Ascending Dragon, Au Co Boat Tours, Buddhism, Cat Ba Island, Emeraude Boat, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Vietnam

A world of clouds and dragons in Ha Long Bay.

A twilight world of clouds and dragons in Hạ Long Bay.

When the dragon meets the clouds, peace is at hand. Vietnamese Proverb

Listen well to my story, because once upon a time in a distant land there was a fairy princess named Âu Cơ. She lived high in the mountains and had a warm heart. With her abundant kindness, Âu Cơ became a skilled doctor, healing the mountain people of their sicknesses with endless compassion. But one day she was very frightened by a monster, who scared her so much, Âu Cơ turned herself into a crane and flew far far away to safety.

And where did her crane wings fly her to safety? To the protection of Hạ Long Bay, where the dragon descends into the ocean.

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