To many people, he is a hero. Others label him a plane hijacker. But to his family and friends, he is forever a fervent advocate of peace who died for his cause. His name is Nguyễn Thái Bình, which means “Peace.” The day he was born, Vietnam was still in war, so his parents named […]
This work is a collection of one Sanskrit mantra and five Buddhist poems of Vietnam, all of which were written in Chinese because Vietnamese people had used Chinese as the written language of learning until our Latin-based modern national script was popularized in the twentieth century. I kept the original text of the Sanskrit mantra
Buddhist Poems from Vietnam for SATB Choir and Percussion Read More »
She Came Back from the War is based on a Vietnamese poem, “Two Generations of Mothers,” written by my mother, Trầm Hương, in 1993. The original poem recounts the true story of a Vietnamese woman who lost her leg from the Vietnam–American War. Thus, she was unable to marry after the war had ended. Her
She Came Back from the War for Soprano and Chamber Orchestra Read More »
I composed The Nine Dragons as an homage to the Mekong River and other all suffering rivers of our time. The Mekong River flows through Tibet, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and reaches the sea through the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. In the Delta, the river is separated into nine estuaries, which the Vietnamese reverently refer
The Nine Dragons for Vietnamese Zither (Đàn Tranh) or Fixed Media and Orchestra Read More »
I composed Anio-san, Oukakutome as part of the Gamelan Intercultural Composition Project during the 2023 Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium. Inspired by the story of Princess Ngọc Hoa (玉華), also known as Princess Oukakutome or “Anio-san” in Japan, this composition explores the heart of a Vietnamese princess who transcended borders with love. During a time when Vietnam
Piano Sonata No. 1 in B-flat Minor (“The Cave of Yellow Flowers”) was inspired by a story in Truyền Kỳ Mạn Lục [Collection of Strange Tales], a Vietnamese literature work composed by Nguyễn Dữ in the sixteenth century. The story is about Từ Thức, a young mandarin who resigned from the court to seek a
Sonata No. 1 in b-minor, “Cave of Golden Flowers” (2018) Read More »
In 2020, the police killing of George Floyd set off a global wave of both peaceful and non-peaceful protests against racism. As a Vietnamese student in the United States, I frequently encountered narratives that pitted people of color against each other, despite the shared experience of being victims of racism, white supremacy, and intolerance. Such
Through the Daughter’s Eyes for chamber orchestra Read More »
