Vanessa Van-Anh Vo Ensemble
Vanessa Van-Anh Vo devotes her life-long passion and mastery of the dan tranh zither to the creation of distinctive music blended with a cultural essence that can only come from this unique Vietnamese instrument. Among her accomplishments are the 2009 Emmy® Award-winning soundtrack for the documentary “Bolinao 52”, which she co-composed and recorded, and the soundtrack for the Sundance best documentary and 2003 Academy Awards® nominee “Daughter from Danang”. Van-Anh also co-composed and recorded for the recent documentary “A Village Called Versailles”, winner of the New Orleans Film Festival Audience Award. Van-Anh began studying dan tranh from the age of four, and graduated with distinction from and taught at the Vietnam Academy of Music. In 1995, Van-Anh won championship in the Vietnam National Dan Tranh Competition 
along with the first prize for best solo performance of modern folk music. She has since performed in more than fourteen countries and recorded in many broadcast programs inside and outside of Vietnam. Her first CD “Twelve Months, Four Seasons” was released in 2002. In addition to dan tranh, Van-Anh also performs as soloist on the monochord (bau), the 36-string hammered dulcimer (dan tam thap luc), the bamboo xylophone (dan t’rung), the k’longput, traditional drums (trong), and Chinese guzheng. She lives and teaches dan tranh and other Vietnamese traditional instruments in Fremont, California. For further information regarding dan tranh, traditional Vietnamese traditional music, or future CDs, please visit her website: www.vananhvo.com or email: [email protected].
Ngoc Ha
Popular singer Ngoc Ha from Vietnam will be performing at the evening program.
(More info to come)
Soulful Obsession with Maya Victoria
Soulful Obsession will be performing outdoors at 4:15pm
Soulful Obsession is an eclectic ensemble on the rise in the Bay Area that fuses the grooves of R&B, the emotional lyrical content of Soul, and the improvisational interplay of jazz. Lead vocalist Lily Tran delivers sultry melodies and infectious energy on the bandstand. Keyboardist Bennett Roth-Newell and bassist Veno Bender provide the colorful harmony and fuel the rhythm, flaunting their talents as not only capable instrumentalists but also storytelling lyricists. Then there’s Kosuke Okamura, the band’s inspirational drummer who propels the music to new heights with a funky percussive pocket, all while wearing a passionate smile. Together, this quartet of artists concocts distinctive and compelling compositions that draw elements from a variety of genres, allowing the music to stretch beyond the contemporary norm. Prepare to let your heart absorb Soulful Obsession’s sound of love, revolution, drama, lust, and excitement.
Thùy Linh
Thùy Linh will be performing outdoors at 5:15pm
Thùy Linh has been singing jazz since 1990. self-taught and drawn to jazz in college by the classic voices of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong, the diminuitive (4 foot 11 inch) chanteuse possesses a surprisingly low-pitch that glides warmly between lyrical sensuality and pensive nostalgia. she credits her love of singing to the melodious songs she heard growing up in her vietnamese community. and she credits her unique style and exotic sound to a most unusual personal history for a singer of american jazz. Currently, she is creating original compositions in collaboration with her best friend, the poet Bashou. The first series, Lotus Child: survivors of human trafficking rise to greatness!, honors human trafficking survivors supported by pacific links foundation. The second series, Lady Moon: the irrepressible Hồ Xuân Hương – 18th century feminist poet, celebrates the untamed spirit of HXH’s politically astute erotic poetry.