Carnegie Hall

Vietnamese folk songs tell stories of life and traditions from different regions of Vietnam and are accompanied by traditional Vietnamese instruments. Each song has a beautiful musical story of the Vietnamese people and may be as much as 4,000 years old. They began in northern Vietnam by the ancient Viet people and spread south as the Viet kings and queens acquired more land. Northern, Central, and Southern Vietnam are three of the main historical, geographical, and cultural regions within Vietnam. The Vietnamese language is tonal, and the music of the various regions of Vietnam are distinguished by the subtle differences in the accents, grace notes, and use of vibrato.

Vân-Ánh was born in Hanoi, Vietnam (in Northern Vietnam), and has been surrounded by music since childhood. She began playing music at age four, and her first instrument was the đàn Tranh (zither). Now, Vân-Ánh collaborates with musicians across different musical genres, bringing Vietnamese folk music to new audiences while preserving her cultural legacy. The richness of traditional music inspires her to explore, learn, share, and celebrate people’s differences and uniqueness.