Our Story
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Viet Wave Music was founded in 2007 by Julie Trinh Dang and several lovers of Vietnamese music. The mission of Viet Wave Music is to preserve and promote Vietnamese traditional music through performance arts and education. Viet Wave strives to create exciting performances by using traditional Vietnamese musical instruments in conjunction with modern music to create new compositions, and enriching our performances with the integration of modern dances to provide a dynamic, youthful feel without losing the essence of traditional Vietnamese music. Through our work in the last 10 years, Viet Wave performances have been welcomed and loved by the Vietnamese community in particular and of the city of Houston in general. From the original three band founders, Viet Wave Music membership has grown to 15 members of all backgrounds and ages.
Today, Viet Wave's fun and innovative combination of dancing, singing, and playing traditional musical instruments has found audiences in various settings: we were commissioned to play at Discovery Green as part of their Sundays in the Park series to showcase traditional music to Houston fans, we are a fixture at the Tet/Lunar New Year festivities, and are frequent guest performers for various charitable and community events. In outreach efforts, we introduced the 17-string zither to students at Sugar Mills Elementary, and last year, we brought the Vietnamese Southern Renovated Theater music and instruments to college students at the Texas Women University where students got hands-on experience playing these instruments.
Viet Wave Music is proud to be a leader in Vietnamese traditional performance art in Houston. The interest and love of our audience have been a source of great joy, motivation, and pride for our group.
Meet Our Musicians
Julie Trinh Dang
Julie Trinh Dang began her music study on guitar at the age of 10 and then Vietnamese traditional music on dan tranh (17-string zither) with Master Nguyen Vinh Bao, Thanh Thuy and Dieu Quang. Since 2005, she has studied dan bau (monochord) and dan kim (2-string moon lute) online with Master Nguyen Vinh Bao. Representing Viet Nam in The Refuge program organized by the Houston Grand Opera in 2006, she played dan tranh and dan bau and had her picture published on the New York Times. She founded Viet Wave Music in 2007 as a vehicle to teach and promote traditional music to Vietnamese young generations and people from other countries.
Hai Yen Nguyen
Hải Yến is the daughter of Professor Phạm Thúy Hoan, the executive director of Tiếng Hát Quê Hương Ensemble. Hải Yến entered Conservatory of Music in Saigon, Vietnam, in 1979 majoring in Đàn Tranh. After six years, Hải Yến changed her major to World's Percussions and graduated in 1989 with honors. Since then, Hải Yến has toured many countries such as South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, France, Germany, Belgium. Hải Yến’s most noted accomplishments include First Prize for Tam Thập Lục (Vietnamese 36 strings dulcimer) Performance in 1981-1982 and Gold Medal for K'long Put at the Musical Festival in Okinawa Japan 1999.
Thanh Hoang
Hoàng Nhật Thành's love for music began at the age of 13. He graduated from the Conservatory of Music in Saigon with a focus on composition, arrangement, and orchestration of traditional Vietnamese music in 1988. He taught music for men and women at religious institutions in Viet Nam, and has continued this passion for teaching even after moving with his family to Houston in 2000. Hoang Nhat Thanh is a talented and versatile artist who can perform several types of instruments. Thanh founded the musical group Hiep Nhat including 20 members playing 12 different Eastern and Western musical instruments.
A Ten-Year Journey
