VietNamNet Bridge – Pianist Pho An My will perform the Gio show at Cong Nhan Theatre on October 29. The show is a combination of piano pieces and Vietnamese cheo (traditional opera).

My learned to play the piano at Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Music College in Germany. She won the first prize at a competition for piano and clarinet in Berlin in 1996.

She taught piano at Nannang University in China, and started performing in Vietnam in 2005.

My launched her project combining piano pieces and Vietnamese traditional music at Hue Festival 2006. The project, entitled Doi Thoai Dong Tay (East West Dialogue) is run by My and musician Dang Tue Nguyen.

My has put on shows that combine piano with tuong (classical opera), ho Hue (Hue singing), hat cọi (Tay ethnic singing) and chau van (van singing), which have made her famous.

Could you tell why it is cheo this time? And how do you use the Vietnamese traditional art form at the Gio show?

Gio is quite different from the previous shows. It is inspired by a very popular cheo show of Viet Nam, Quan Am Thi Kinh, which is a folk tale. We don’t intend to tell the tale through music. As usual, musician Dang Tue Nguyen has composed the music and I have written the script for the show.

Vietnamese traditional cheo is a genre in which the audience can find all literary genres, such as romance, epic and poetry. I want to focus on the romance factor in Gio.

Could you tell us more about Gio? What is your performance style in Gio?

Gio is the story of two women who are quite different. One desires to be loved and the other is very patient about her life. I always see myself in the two women, depending on my emotions.

I performed enthusiastically in the two most recent shows, which combined piano with hat van and tuong folk tunes. I will be gentle and play music more calmly in Gio.

I want to make the shows in the East-West Dialogue project more colourful with contrasting performance styles.

Gio will mark the end of a project that you have carried out since 2006. What are the difficulties and advantages in bringing your project closer to listeners?

Not many people enjoy listening to symphony. And it is difficult to attract people, young people in particular, to traditional music.

The difficulty increases when combining two musical genres. However, I am lucky because all the shows in my project were sold out. But the proceeds from the ticket sales were enough to cover only the organisation of the show. It was not enough to cover proper pay for the artists.

After ten years of combining traditional music and piano, I want to end it and change to other genres. It will be difficult but I like new challenges.

You lived abroad for many years before returning home. What makes you interested in traditional music?

I lived in Germany for a long time. But when I returned home, I began to carry out the project combining Vietnamese traditional music and piano. It is like having a bowl of pho after a long period of absence from Ha Noi.

I’m also lucky because I have a well-to-do family that enables me to feel comfortable with music. I spend the breaks between the shows in travel. I think that an artist needs to enrich her soul.

Could you tell us more about your counterpart, musician Dang Tue Nguyen?

We first worked together at the Hue Festival in 2006, where I had been invited to perform. When I saw repertoires of other musicians, I was very confused.

It was difficult to lure the festival-goers to listen to classical music. Thus, the project combining traditional music and piano was born.

Luckily, I listened to Impromtu, Nguyen’s first classical work with cello and piano. I liked the piece and wanted to work with him.

I asked him to write a piece based on folk music for my show at the Hue Festival.

We have performed at the Hue Festival four times. The combination of piano and Vietnamese traditional music is our own production. I never thought about co-operating with other artists.

VNS