XONG with Thanh Thủy
North meets East
The three musicians collaborate to combine the musical cultures of Asia (Vietnam) and Europe.
This new group creates a melting pot of Nordic/Scandinavian/European music and Asian /Vietnamese music. Nordic sounds, melodies and improvisations are mixed with Asian music through the Vietnamese folk instrument ‘đàn tranh’, the flute, the grand piano and synthesizers – wild improvisations, beautiful improvisations, melodies, grooves and geographical indefinable carousel sounds. All this creates a space that combines the sounds of Vietnam, Europe and Scandinavia.
CV’s 21012
Irene Becker (piano, keyboards), Denmark.
Irene has a Masters Degree from the University of Copenhagen and has studied at the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, New York. She has been a member of New Jungle Orchestra since 1981. In recent years she has often collaborated with dancers and poets. Trips and tours all over the world have provided the opportunity for field studies, experimentation and inspiration from ancient musical cultures. She has composed for big bands, chamber ensembles and choirs, collaborated with Siberian female vocalist Sainkho Namtchylak, and studied composition with Bob Brookmeyer at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen.
Charlotte Halberg (flute), Denmark.
Charlotte grew up in London and New York, where she received basic training on piano, violin and recorder. After completing high school in Copenhagen, she graduated from teacher’s college, which lead to many years of intensive work at music schools. She has been a professional musician since 1987, primarily on the flute and pan flute. She is a touring member of classical, jazz and folk ensembles, and a dedicated performer of children’s concerts in Denmark, Norway and Greenland.
Nguyễn Thanh Thủy (đàn tranh), Vietnam
Nguyễn Thanh Thủy studied at the Hanoi National Academy of Music where she received her diploma in 1998, followed by a Master of Arts at the Institute of Vietnamese Folklore in 2002.
She tours worldwide and has received many distinctions.
Since 2009, she has been involved as a researcher in the international research project (re)thinking improvisation, as a collaboration between the Hanoi National Academy of Music and the Malmö Academy of Music. At present she is launching an artistic doctoral project at the Malmö Academy of Music concerned with gender in traditional Vietnamese music.