Tag Archives: Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin

The Hà Nội New Music Ensemble 2018-19 Season Starts September 8

07 Friday Sep 2018

Posted by in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Buddhism, Contemporary Music, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Igor Stravinsky, Manzi Art Space, Minh Dam Quang, Nguyen Minh Nhat, Nguyen Thien Dao, Ripieno Ensemble, Manila, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Violinists Phạm Trường Sơn and Vũ Thị Khánh Linh.

I may be house sitting for a friend in San Francisco this September, but unlike Tony Bennett I’ve left my heart in Hà Nội, Việt Nam!

The opening concert of the 2018-19 season of the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble will get underway on Saturday September 8 at the Manzi Art Space at 8 PM. The first of five programs this season, the most ambitious we’ve planned, begins with a Composer Portrait concert of works for strings by Vũ Nhật Tân, entitled Màu Âm in Vietnamese, Shades of Sound in English, Couleurs des son in French, juxtaposed with ancient Vietnamese music from our friends in the Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin.

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Transfigured Schoenberg in Việt Nam

17 Tuesday Apr 2018

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

27 Saturday Jan 2018

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

02 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by 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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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 Eternal City of Huế

07 Saturday Oct 2017

Posted by in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Buddhism, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Music, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam, 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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Autumn Moon Lanterns in Hội An

03 Tuesday Oct 2017

Posted by in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hoi An, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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Colorful lanterns in Hội An.

I adore the Autumn Moon Festival in Việt Nam. Primarily for youngsters, kids, babies and strollers, smiling grandparents and tired moms and dads, the ramp up weeks to the actual celebration contains charm, even innocence, qualities often missing or hard to locate in the Western world these days. Here in Hà Nội, it’s often a nighttime lullaby to be serenaded by loud citywide dragon drumming this time of year.

Clearing away evil spirits is a good thing, don’t you agree?

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

06 Wednesday Sep 2017

Posted by 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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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 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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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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In Việt Nam, Listening to the Past to Hear the Future

27 Sunday Nov 2016

Posted by in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Composers, Cong CaPhe, Contemporary Music, Diplomacy, Food, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Kim Ngoc Tran, LA International New Music Festival, Minh Dam Quang, Nguyen Minh Nhat, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Violinist Vu Khanh Linh on her way to rehearse with the Ha Noi New Music Ensemble.

On the move: violinist Vũ Khánh Linh on her way to rehearsal with the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble.

Searching for a word or a phrase to describe the members of my Hà Nội New Music Ensemble is a rewarding thought experiment. Doing so back home in Los Angeles is a great cure for massive Southeast Asian jet lag (mixed often, I’m afraid, with a strong dose of post election California blues). Like Việt Nam itself, there are contradictions, aspirations, habits and desires to be understood in their makeup. But if pressed for a description, here’s my choice.

Energy. As in the monster capacity Vietnamese audiences we enjoyed together. And I have to force these players to take a rehearsal break. Or to stop celebrating!

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The House in Bắc Ninh

02 Sunday Oct 2016

Posted by in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Composers, Diplomacy, Food, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Minh Dam Quang, Music, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Is this Provence or Viet Nam?

What do you think? Provence or Việt Nam?

Culture neither survives nor advances by accident. Decades of violent rupture does not bode well for continuity. In the case of Việt Nam, it takes people dedicated to renaissance to find out about the past after decades of turbulent experience. What our friends here are faced with gives the definition of the word contradiction a whole new vocabulary.

My wife and I weren’t totally clear on the significance of a text from our friends Bông Hoa and Vũ Nhật Tân. “Minh and us want to take you to a village in Bắc Ninh to the oldest ceramics maker area in Việt Nam.” Sounded innocent enough.

I’m not sure if anything is innocent in Việt Nam. There is always a new layer to be uncovered, and for us, never more than on this day.

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