Folk Arts - Master Artist - Hai Viet Hong

Hai Viet Hong, a master of the Dan Tranh (a 17-string Vietnamese zither), has been studying and performing Vietnamese folk music since he was nine years old. In 2000 and 2002, he returned to Vietnam to conduct research on its traditional music and to study the dan bau (a Vietnamese monochord instrument) with artist Minh Thanh, an award winning dan bau musician. Currently, Hong is the executive director and founder of the Huong Viet Performing Arts Group, a non-profit organization devoted to the study, preservation, and promotion of traditional Vietnamese music. Hong and his group have performed in over seventy programs at various colleges, elementary schools, folklife festivals, Ethnic Heritage Council events, Asia Pacific Cultural Center programs, and Tet in Seattle. During the past several years, Hong has also been giving lectures and teaching classes about the traditional music of Vietnam. He is currently working on publishing two books focused on Vietnamese music and the art of Vietnamese poetic song.

As the recipient of a 2004 Apprenticeship grant, Hong taught three apprentices, Mimi Chau, Hong Ha Hoang, and Cam-Tu Vo, to play the Dan Tranh. He taught them musical notes using English scales and notes to help students gain a foundational understanding before moving on to the complex scales and notes of the Dan Tranh. Hong also shared with his apprentices their culture’s history, geography, musical genres, and language.

All three apprentices have a common interest and passion for this type of music. They hope to learn more about these traditions so that they can teach others, broadening and balancing their community with aspects of Vietnamese culture.