Editor's Note:

The Music page is a result of a bicoastal collaboration of Tuyet A. Tran and Chi D. Nguyen, composers and musicians. Our musical background couldn’t be more different which actually complements our lively discussions on the selection of subjects that are launched on this site. One of our interests is to introduce contemporary and new generations of Vietnamese diaspora and other readers to the development of traditional Vietnamese musical heritage. The subject menu is self-explanatory insofar as providing an approximate chronology of Vietnamese musical evolution. We will also feature some composers whose works reflect their Vietnamese and/or or other Asian heritage. There are two sections to this Music page : a) feature articles and/or current news/issues; and b) permanent collections of Viettouch.com Music.

My plans have been revised to include a more expansive perspective on the subject of music. Music is a common language for many nationalities and different ethnic background therefore, it is consistent for me to invite multicultural guest writers to contribute their thoughts to this webpage. I’m particularly thrilled about this wonderful addition to our site. Another added change is that I will contribute a few articles on selected issues and/or events that involved Vietnamese musical evolution. We are also adding complementary links with other sites to provide the readers more information on particular artists and/or musical organizations that are supportive of our goals and approaches.

The goals of the permanent collection have also changed in that a) the Library of Sounds will continue to be fine-tuned as the audio files are made available to our site; b) when possible, our electronic files will keep profiles of guest writers with their sound files; and c) when possible, audio files of contemporary composers whose works reflect Vietnamese and/or Asian influences in their writings.

One final thought is that we are but one source of viewpoints on the history of Vietnamese music and its evolution. We’re excited about our guest articles which will provide a truly diverse forum to our Music page. Our quest to discover, explore, and share our ideas is constant even as we continually change and alter our scope and approaches towards that end.

Tuyet A. Tran
NYC 1998