Overseas Vietnamese musician wins at IMA
Walking by overseas Vietnamese musician Tri Nguyen has won in the World Beat category at the 18th Independent Music Awards (IMA).
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| Dan Tranh musician Tri Nguyen popularises the traditional instrument to the world. |
The piece was co-produced by Nguyen and Canadian music producer and percussionist Graeme Drum.
“The recognition is an encouragement for an artist,” said Nguyen. “It proves that my music is favoured and interesting. The most important thing to me is not to win an international prize, but make something for Vietnamese Dan Tranh (zither) and Vietnamese music as well.
“To me music doesn’t help musicians to build a good reputation. It is not music. I make music because I love music. Because I love Dan Tranh and piano,” he said.
The more than three-minute piece is a soulful journey inspiring listeners about the constant flow of life including human thought and nature. Everything is moving forward.
This is the first co-operation between the two artists. Last year, they became friends through Facebook because Drum loves Vietnamese Dan Tranh and wanted to co-operate with a Vietnamese artist.
They worked online. Nguyen recorded his composition for Dan Tranh whilst Drum made accompanying percussion music.
“Drum confessed that he used to think about guzheng (Chinese zither). But he changed his mind after listening to Dan Tranh,” said Nguyen.
Drum’s skills including percussion, arrangements and songwriting, making him popular in North America and the UK and garnering critical acclaim from outlets such as One World Music Radio and Arc Music Productions Int. Ltd.
“Tri Nguyen and I won an IMA VOX/POP World Beat Song: Walking! We are very proud to have won the fan voted award because YOU the fans are what matters most to us,” he wrote on Facebook.
IMA is an annual award in New York and is one of the music important awards in the world.
The 18th award drew artists from 119 countries competing in 140 categories. In each category, the winner beat thousands of nominations and five finalists.
Nguyen got many nominations at the final round. His album Beyond Borders competed in the World Beat Album category in 2018 and last year his single The Fourth Hour with Italian Roberto Diana in the Instrumental Song category.
Nguyen has released three albums including Consonnances in 2014; A Journey Between Worlds in 2016 and Beyond Borders in 2017. The two albums Consonnances and Beyond Borders won the Gold Medal at Global Music Awards in 2015 and 2017.
Born in HCM City, Nguyen studied Dan Tranh and piano at age five. After graduating from HCM Conservatory of Music he continued to study at Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris with professor Jacques Lagarde.
Source: VNS