Dear visitors,
Welcome and thank you for visiting our website. As we take our first steps, we would like to introduce our program of Teach-Yourself Videos for Vietnamese Music with accompanying Study Guide. This is an easy-to-follow program taught by musician Ðức Thành himself as well as a number of other renowned musicians experienced in teaching at conservatories and universities and performing on stage. Programs of instruction include: Dan Tranh (16-string zither) – Dan Bau (monochord) – Sao Truc (bamboo flute) – Dan Nguyet (moon lute) – How to read sheet music...Furthermore, if you are in need of quality instruments for practice, we are fully prepared to fulfill your needs.
We also provide authentic Ðàn Bầu solo albums in a number of various genres including traditional folk songs and music ( “dan ca nhac co” ) to classic Vietnamese romantic pop (from the “tien chien” era) performed by acclaimed Dan Bau performer Pham Duc Thanh . In addition, we also have a wide variety of CD's of Vietnamese folk songs, poetry declamation, traditional music ensembles, Dan Bau, and folk songs across the world. Our ensemble also accepts invitations to appear at various Vietnamese celebrations and traditional festivals with solo performances of some of the most unique and beautiful instruments of Vietnam, along with folk songs done in the traditional style and in traditional costume.
With hundreds of performances for musical festivals held across the world, we are doing our best to preserve the most advanced instrumental techniques and the most traditional song genres through our Teach-Yourself Videos, traditional Vietnamese music CDs, etc. This is a method of learning that is extremely easy that allows one to study anytime and anywhere. Together, we can allow the youth to discover the culture of Vietnam through music. We hope for your support.
We sincerely thank you.
Pham Duc Thanh is a world-renowned musician known for his masterful ability on the Vietnamese one-stringed instrument (Dan Bau). He was born in 1958 in Ninh Binh , Vietnam . His talent was fully apparent from his youth: he was adept at the Chèo drumming style at age 4, he learned the mandolin at age 5, and he had begun playing Dan Bau (monochord) and Dan Nhi (2-string fiddle) at the age of 5. In 1974, Duc-Thanh left Hanoi to join the largest Cheo opera troupe in Vietnam and officially became a professional Dan Bau performer.
At the end of 1978 he was the only Dan Bau musician of the Cheo opera stage to attend the national Dan Bau competition of Vietnam in Hanoi ; soon after, he went to Saigon to study further the music of central and southern Vietnam . In October of 1983, he graduated with top honors from the Center for Musical Research of Vietnam. It was here that he became recognized as one of the rising musicians on Dan Bau in traditional as well as modern music.
He and his family moved to Canada in 1996. Today, he is an adored performer in Montreal . Beyond the traditional music of Vietnam , he has used the Dan Bau to integrate seamlessly with the sounds and rhythms of various ethnic sounds from around the world, following in the words of the poet Van Tien Le:
