Tags
Andre Jolivet, Anthony Bourdain, Asia, Buddhism, Dam Quang MInh, Dong Kinh Co Nhạc, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Kent Nagano, Los Angeles International New Music Festival, Nguyen Thien Dao, Olivier Messiaen, Thich Nhat Hanh, Ton That Tiet, Vietnam, Vivan Diep, Vu Nhat Tan

Sunset in Paris on the Seine from the Pont des Arts.
My friend Tôn Thất Tiết, who I would describe as a hybrid Vietnamese French composer who is fundamentally Vietnamese, writes the most patient music I’ve ever encountered. Poised from years of Buddhist thought and traditions, his command of stillness inspires me. And like the metaphor of water he often invokes, his music conceals endless energy underneath a calm surface.
Tiết was born in Huế, Việt Nam in 1933, went to Paris in 1958, studied with Messiaen’s friend André Jolivet and became a French citizen in 1971. In 1993 he founded the France-Việt Nam Music Association to promote the development of traditional music in Việt Nam.