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Quynh Nguyen

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Quynh Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American classical pianist and teacher, living in New York. She was born in Hanoi and studied at the Hanoi Conservatory, the Gnessin State Musical College in Moscow, the Juilliard School, the Mannes College of Music and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where she earned a Doctor of Musical Arts. She has performed as a soloist and recitalist in the United States, Europe and Asia, including at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Konzerthaus in Berlin. She has played with orchestras such as the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony.

Music and breakthrough

Her recordings include solo albums on Arabesque Records, The Flower of France with piano works by Germaine Tailleferre on Music & Arts, and Paul Chihara: Complete Piano Works on Naxos American Classics. The last of these includes the Concerto-Fantasy, which Chihara wrote in close collaboration with her and which she recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra under Stephen Barlow. Her album of Tailleferre stood out because it brought together solo works, transcriptions and excerpts from ballet and film music.

Influence

Nguyen is associated with the music of Mozart, Chopin, Olivier Messiaen, Paul Chihara and Tailleferre. With a Fulbright grant she studied the Eastern influences on Messiaen in France and worked with Yvonne Loriod, his second wife. She teaches at Hunter College in New York.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Paul Chihara's Concerto-Fantasy with Quynh Nguyen and notice how piano and orchestra challenge each other. Try to hear when the piano takes the lead and when the orchestra takes over.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists