Tag Archives: Vietnam

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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From Vienna to Việt Nam with the Influence of Leonard Bernstein

14 Thursday Jun 2018

Posted by in Cong Ca Phe, Famous Father Girl, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Jamie Bernstein, Leonard Bernstein, Tanglewood, Uncategorized, Vienna, Vienna Philharmonic, Vietnam

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St. Joseph’s Cathedral from a Cộng Cà Phê in the Old Quarter of Hà Nội.

“There are no coincidences.” – Leonard Bernstein

A day before concluding my eleven week residency this April with the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble, I did something routine before I leave Việt Nam. I went across the street from where I stay to my local Cộng Cà Phê, which has hands down the world’s best coffee.

“Cho anh cà phê nâu đá,” I ordered in Vietnamese, which frankly I don’t need to do anymore. The young and attentive staff greet me, often generously coach me in Vietnamese pronunciation each morning and usually just show up with my order. Being older in Việt Nam has its advantages. “Hello, grandfather!” is their normal salutation.

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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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Nine Chapters of the Rain at the Manzi Center with the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble, Friday May 5

01 Monday May 2017

Posted by in Composers, Contemporary Music, Diplomacy, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Kim Ngoc Tran, Music, Nguyen Minh Nhat, Paris, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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The Hà Nội New Music Ensemble will be at the Manzi Art Center on Friday, May 5.

2017 is the Year of the Fire Rooster. Which means that, if you appreciate the worldview of Asian lunar astrology, it’s a time used best for ambitious planning and strategy. Political events will demonstrate obnoxious “Cock-a-Doodle-Doo’s!”, from missile tests launched by Pyongyang, protest marches in the United States, Brexit negotiations between London and the EU, or another divisive election, this time in France. Add the element of FIRE to your alarm clock and you’ll at least understand the shared global anxiety about coming events.

However focusing, perhaps nervously, on these incendiary realities misses the best opportunity provided by the Year of the Fire Rooster. There is no need to panic.

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A Question of Continuity for the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble

12 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by in Arnold Schoenberg, Bela Bartók, Contemporary Music, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Igor Stravinsky, LA International New Music Festival, Music, Nguyen Minh Nhat, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Walt Disney Concert Hall, William Kraft

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Rehearsing a new quartet by 19 year old Nguyen Minh Nhat.

Rehearsing a new string quartet by 19 year old Nguyễn Minh Nhật.

The New York Times launched a series of articles the weekend of January 8 to focus attention on the Vietnam War, or from a different perspective, the American War we fought in Việt Nam. This season of bizarre political transition makes the series well timed for the American reader. The obligatory colon in the title sums it up. Vietnam: The War That Killed Trust. Before the first article begins, the editorial introduction states “the legacy of the war still shapes America, even if most of us are too young to remember it.”

And some us are old enough to remember it.

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

27 Tuesday Dec 2016

Posted by in Halong Bay, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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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 in Cat Ba Island, Halong Bay, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Nom Calligraphy, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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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 in Buddhism, Cat Ba Island, Halong Bay, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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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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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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East Meets East: The Hà Nội New Music Ensemble and The Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin on November 4

26 Wednesday Oct 2016

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

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A handshake contract with my good friend Dam Quang Minh in Bac Ninh.

A handshake contract in Bằc Ninh with my good friend Đàm Quang Minh of the Ancient Music Ensemble of Tonkin.

I am happy to announce an important development for serious music in Việt Nam. On Friday November 4th at the second concert of the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble we will begin a long term collaboration with the Ancient Music Ensemble of Tonkin. As an American arts advisor to new music here, I’m proud to have been a catalyst for this long overdue fraternity of friends, and should you be in Hà Nội, make plans to join us at 8 PM in the Grand Hall of the Việt Nam National Academy of Music in a concert honoring the 60th anniversary of the Academy’s founding.

It’s been quite a busy time since I arrived in early September.  Not to mention the monster crowd that greeting our opening concert at L’espace on Sunday!

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