Hai Hong
Vietnamese zither maker
Everett, WA
Hong Hai, a master of the Dan Tranh (Vietnamese instrument-17 strings zither) has been
practicing and studying Vietnamese folk music since he was nine years old. In 2000 and in
2002 he returned to Vietnam to conduct research on the traditional music of the country
and to study the dan bau (a Vietnamese monochord instrument) with artist Minh Thanh
(a gold medalist for dan bau performance). Currently he is the executive director and
founder of the Huong Viet Performing Arts Group, a non-profit organization devoted to
the study, preservation, and promotion of traditional Vietnamese music. Hai and his group
have performed in over seventy-six programs at various colleges, elementary schools,
folklife festivals, Ethic Heritage Council events, Asia Pacific Cultural Center programs,
and Tet in Seattle. During the past five years Hai has also been giving lectures and
teaching classes about traditional Vietnamese music. He is currently working on publishing
two books focusing on Vietnamese music and the art of Vietnamese poetry singing.
As a recipient of a 2004 Apprenticeship grant, Hai taught three apprentices: Mimi Chau,
Hong Ha Hoang, and Cam-Tu Vo to play the Dan Tranh. Hai focused on teaching his apprentices
about their culture’s history, geography of musical genre’s, and language. Hai has been
teaching the musical notes using English scales and notes to help students gain a better
understanding before moving up to the complex scales and notes of the Dan Tranh.
In addition to having extraordinary musical skills, Hai Hong is a master artist. He received
a 2007 WSAC Apprenticeship Program award to teach Vietnamese brushstroke painting. This
traditional form of visual art has affinities with classical Chinese brushwork and
similarly involves years of practice,