• 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: Vu Nhat Tan

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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Transfigured Schoenberg in Việt Nam

17 Tuesday Apr 2018

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Contemporary Music, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Laos, Nguyen Thien Dao, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Arnold Schoenberg, Goethe Institut Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hanoi Old Quarter, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Kolisch Quartet, Nguyen Thien Dao, Paris, Pere Lachaise Cemetery, Pham Truong Son, Ripieno Ensemble of Manila, Tet Lunar New Year 2018, Vu Nhat Tan

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Rehearsing Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night in Hà Nội.

”I’m satisfied with what we’ve accomplished tonight,” I said to my hard working friends in the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble after two and half hours rehearsing the complexities of texture and harmony in Schoenberg’s epochal Transfigured Night. “Would like to go home early?”

”No,” came a unison answer. “Can we just take a break and keep working?”

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Black Cardamom & Star Anise at the Đồng Xuân Market in Hà Nội

08 Thursday Feb 2018

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Farmers Markets, Food, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Minh Dam Quang, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Black Cardamom, Dam Quang MInh, Dong Xuan Market, French cuisine, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, India cuisine, Paris, Tet Lunar New Year 2018, Vietnamese Cuisine, Vu Nhat Tan

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The alley leading to the Đồng Xuân Market.

There are elements of Vietnamese culture that invest significantly in symbolism. Colors. Numbers. Days of the week. Seasons of the year. Phases of the lunar cycle. I-Ching astrological fortune tellers play important and still visible societal roles. Your given name has a deeply considered poetic meaning.

And the cuisine of Việt Nam?

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Thoughts on a Winter Moon with the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble

27 Saturday Jan 2018

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Contemporary Music, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Nguyen Minh Nhat, Nguyen Thien Dao, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Chihiro Inda, Cong Caphe, Dam Quang MInh, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Mititaka Matubara, Nguyen Minh Nhat, Nguyen Thien Dao, Vu Nhat Tan

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A dreamy winter’s day in Hà Nội.

No matter how long the journey, the pattern of progress always returns to one step at a time. After spending the Christmas and New Year Holiday season at home in Pasadena, cooking up a lot of delicious storms and seeing scores of friends and neighbors, I’m excited to be back in Việt Nam for another extended residency with the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble, making each little step we take count towards achieving a world class ensemble in Southeast Asia.

And we all need a little help from our friends. In the case of my work with the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble, that means creating a collection of like minded people slowly chipping in from Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Paris, Kyoto, México City and Tokyo to offer help and guidance along the way.

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The New Music Gathering Asia with the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble

08 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Music, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Buru Quartet, Charles Kwong, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Karina Yau, Lio Kuokman, MATA Festival, Ripieno Ensemble of Manila, Sharon Chan, Todd Tarantino, Toshio Hosokawa, Unsuk Chin, William Lane

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We’re always happy to be in Hong Kong!

My extended family nostalgia appears spontaneously as soon as I set foot in Hong Kong. When I was a little boy, a man named Harry Woo often watched me for my parents at our family restaurant at 2601 West Sixth Street in Los Angeles. Harry was their loyal dishwasher and short order cook. On what has, over time, become for me a fateful Saturday afternoon in the 1960s, he showed me a letter he was writing to his family in Hong Kong with his Cantonese calligraphy.

I’ve never recovered from that moment. Harry’s letter to his parents in Hong Kong written in Cantonese taught me the world was a bigger place than I’d ever imagined.

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A Third Season Opening Triumph for the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble

02 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Composers, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Music, Nguyen Minh Nhat, Ton That Tiet, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Nguyen Duy, Nguyen Minh Nhat, Thanh Hoai, Ton That Tiet, Vu Nhat Tan

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Opening night curtain calls in Hà Nội.

”We are friends! Chúng ta là bạn!” said Thanh Hoài in a stage whisper as we reached out to hold each other’s hand, joining together the entire cast of Kim by Vũ Nhật Tân. Receiving the amazing response from a capacity audience for the collaboration of two of the new outstanding arts organizations in Việt Nam, the Đông Kinh Cở Nhạc/Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin and the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble, was a night to remember for us all.

How successful, you ask? Let me put it this way. My return flight is now booked. After recharging at home in California for the Christmas holiday season, I will return to Hà Nội for more hard work and important next steps in January 2018.

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The Bamboo House Rehearsal

16 Monday Oct 2017

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Contemporary Music, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Ancient Music Ensemble of Tonkin, Bamboo House Hanoi, Chua Lang Pagoda, Gilbert Nouno, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, IRCAM, Pierre Boulez, Thanh Hoai, Tran Thu Thuy, Vu Nhat Tan, Water Puppets of Hanoi

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A happy Bamboo House moment with Thanh Hoài and Đàm Quang Minh.

“Mr. Jeff, you must come to rehearse with us in the Bamboo House!” said my friend Đàm Quang Minh in his charming mix of French and broken English. “There you will learn about the real Vietnamese ancient music avec moi et Monsieur Tân.”

I’d been hearing about the Bamboo House with its seemingly legendary status since I arrived in Hà Nội in September. Perhaps it was an inner sanctum for rehearsal and discovery? An urban oasis? On the outskirts of the city?

“Mr. Jeff, you and Jan must first go only to Chùa Láng, et d’accord, nous marchons avec Monsieur Tân à Bamboo House,” continued my friend Minh.

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The Eternal City of Huế

07 Saturday Oct 2017

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Buddhism, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Music, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Ancient Ensemble of Hue, Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Anthony Bourdain, Buddhism, Dam Quang MInh, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hue Citadel, Kodo Drummers, Lan Huong, Perfume River, Sado Isalnd, Thien Mu Pagoda, Vu Nhat Tan

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Eternal Việt Nam and the Sông Hương, the River of Perfume, in Huế. Photo by Lan Hương.

It has been eleven years since I visited the city of Huế, considered the Vatican of Vietnamese Buddhism. Despite the horrific battles fought here in 1968 during the Tết Offensive, a calm spirituality infuses the area. You glimpse this on the long highway road from Đà Nẵng. Sandwiched between busy shops and food stands are more Buddhist temples that I could count.

The language is different. The cuisine is different. The atmosphere is different.

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The Eroica Moment for Việt Nam and the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble

06 Wednesday Sep 2017

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Buddhism, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Ken Burns, Kim Ngoc Tran, Music, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Buddhism, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Ken Burns, Kent Nagano, Kim Ngoc Tran, Luong Hue Trinh, Nguyen Minh Nhat, Nguyen Thien Dao, Nom Calligraphy, Paris, Ton That Tiet

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Composer Nguyễn Minh Nhật in Paris with his mentor, Tốn Thất Tiết.

While Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and PBS turn American attention to the Vietnam War with an important new documentary on September 17th, Jan Karlin and I will be in Việt Nam turning our attention to the third season of the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble. For the first time, Vietnamese composers are writing new works for their own Vietnamese ensemble for a supportive Vietnamese public, guided by their first ever American arts advisors, with trusted friends sending best wishes from Paris on October 21st.

Burns, Novick and PBS are justifiably concerned with the Vietnam War. But Jan and I want us all to truly to move forward, and to do that you must be prepared to see Việt Nam as a country. We firmly believe new music is writing the inspiring next chapter of our story together.

Why not join us in Hà Nội on October 21st and hear for yourself?

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Who Knew? Chez Janou and 80 Types of Pastis in Paris

16 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Buddhism, Composers, Contemporary Music, Food, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Japan, Kim Ngoc Tran, Kyoto, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Minh Dam Quang, Paris, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Asia, Buddhism, Chez Janou, Dam Quang MInh, Food, French Food, Gilbert Nouno, Guangxi Arts Festival, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, India, IRCAM, Munich Biennale, Paris, Pastis, Pierre Boulez, Travel, Vietnam

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Jan at Chez Janou.

Invariably, when one searches the internet for restaurant reviews of places to go in Paris, the general observation includes a few “rude service” comments. Personally, I’ve never experienced what they’re talking about, but that might be because I have a decent amount of French. I’ve always found Parisians pretty easy going if you just say “Bonjour” when you walk into a restaurant or a shop. You aren’t the first tourist they’ve ever seen. Smiles always help you.

Jan and I are in Europe for planning meetings for next steps for our Hà Nội New Music Ensemble in Việt Nam. Things are moving forward, for while we’re in Europe, my Vietnamese colleagues have concerts in Hà Nội with the directors of the Münchner Biennale and then tour to the Guangxi Festival in Nanning, China. By dividing our resources we’re getting ready for an ambitious future.

Allow me to share with you where a Parisian friend recommended we meet for dinner? And the staff is friendly and fantastic. Feel free to make your own reservation!

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