Nguyền nối lại cung đàn vạn thuở

Nắn nghìn xưa rung chuyển tận nghìn sau

Để cung đàn xoa dịu nỗi thương đau

Bởi cuộc thế bể dâu tan biến mãi

                 (Nguyễn Hữu Ba)

Hướng Việt Performing Arts Group

is a registered 501c3 nonprofit organization founded in 2001 by Dr. Hai Viet Hong with the goal to study, promote, preserve, and popularize Vietnamese traditional music and arts. Hướng Việt Performing Arts Group focuses on the musical techniques and traditions of our ancestral Vietnam. The classical songs are difficult to learn and master, requiring students to be patient and diligent. Vietnamese classical techniques are different from that of a majority of artists nowadays whose skills excessively emulate running notes and tremolos of the right hand in the Chinese manner. The Chinese influenced style is easier to learn for dramatic effect, hence favored by many students, but not representative of Vietnamese traditional music.   Huong Viet artists are trained by master artists of the 3 music regions of southern Vietnam, where musical traditions have not been influenced and diluted by the Chinese. Hence, our styles, techniques, and songs while difficult to master, are uniquely and proudly Vietnamese. Since 2001, Hướng Việt Performing Arts Group has performed throughout the United States, and around the world such as Canada, France, Australia and regularly provides educational opportunities through lectures, exhibits, and workshops on Vietnamese culture at universities, community colleges, elementary schools, and libraries such as Harvard, University of Washington, etc.   On February 22, 2018, Huong Viet Performing Arts Group was invited to perform at the White House, Washington DC to celebrate Lunar New Year.  On April 10, 2025, Hướng Việt received the Mayor Arts Award for their contribution toward preserving Vietnamese traditional music.  

Đoàn Văn Nghệ Dân Tộc Hướng Việt là một tổ chức bất vụ lợi 501c3 thành lập vào năm 2001 do bác sĩ Hồng Việt Hải với mục đích học hỏi, truyền bá, duy trì, và phát huy âm nhạc truyền thống Việt Nam.  Khác với đa số các nghệ sĩ ngày nay khi âm nhạc truyền thống Việt Nam chỉ chú trọng về kỹ thuật chạy ngón của tay phải và phong cách biểu diễn ảnh hưởng từ nhạc Trung Quốc. Lối học này đơn giản, dễ học, nên được các học sinh ưa chuộng, tuy nhiên, đây không còn là âm nhạc truyền thống VN nữa.  Với Đoàn Văn Nghệ Dân Tộc Hướng Việt, chúng tôi chú trọng đến kỹ thuật và bài bản âm nhạc thuần túy của Việt Nam. Các kỹ thuật và bài bản này khó học và đòi hỏi học viên phải chuyên cần tập luyện. Các giáo viên của Hướng Việt đều được đào tạo bởi các giáo sư chuyên về âm nhạc của ba miền đất nước ở miền Nam nên kỹ thuật, ngón đàn, và bài bản chúng tôi sử dụng và truyền bá đúng theo phong cách của âm nhạc cổ truyền Việt Nam, không bị lai căn, mất gốc, không ảnh hưởng âm nhạc Trung Quốc hoặc các quốc gia nào. Từ khi thành lập, đoàn thường xuyên lưu diễn, thuyết trình, quảng bá âm nhạc truyền thống Việt Nam tại các trường đại học ở Hoa Kỳ như Harvard, University of Washington, vv, cũng như các quốc gia khác trên toàn thế giới như Canada, Pháp, Úc Châu v.v.  Ngày 22 tháng 2 năm 2018, Đoàn Văn Nghệ Dân Tộc Hướng Việt được vinh dự mời trình diễn tại Toà Bạch Ốc (White House) Hoa Thịnh Đốn (Washington D.C.) trong chương trình đón mừng Tết Nguyên Đán.  Ngày 10 tháng 4, 2025, Hướng Việt được thị trưởng thành phố Everett trao tăng giải thưởng Nghệ sĩ trong cộng đồng Everett cho những nổ lực trong công viêc gìn giữ âm nhạc truyền thống Việt Nam.  Chúng tôi tự hào mình là người Việt Nam.  

Dr. Hai Viet Hong, DAOM, is a physician of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), award-winning musician, and scholar of Vietnamese traditional music, recognized internationally for his contributions as a performer, composer, and author.

He is the Founder and Executive Director of the Huong Viet Performing Arts Group. He holds a doctoral degree in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and is a licensed practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), currently practicing at the Silver Crane Center for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine with a clinical focus on pain management and oncology. His clinical work has been recognized with the “Best Acupuncture Clinic” award by King5 Evening Magazine (2013) and designation as a “Top Doctor” by Seattle Met Magazine (2016).

Dr. Hong has delivered invited lectures and performances at leading academic institutions, including Harvard University and the University of Washington, and maintains an active international presence as both a performer and scholar. He has traveled extensively to present Vietnamese traditional music across multiple countries, including Vietnam, Australia, France, and Canada. In recognition of his artistic and cultural contributions, he was invited to perform at the White House during the Vietnamese Lunar New Year celebration in 2018.

Dr. Hong has undertaken extensive formal training in Vietnamese traditional music. His studies include đàn tranh with Professor Hoàng Cơ Thụy, Professor Nguyễn Xuân Yên, and artists Mười Xuân and Kim Uyên; đàn bầu with Professor Thanh Tâm and Nguyễn Châu; đàn tỳ bà with Professor Nguyễn Thị Thanh; and đàn t’rưng with artist Thúy Huỳnh. He has additionally studied guzheng and erhu with Professors Buyun and Warren Chang. He is the first Vietnamese individual selected to receive the Washington State Arts Commission Folk Arts Award for the preservation and teaching of Vietnamese music and arts (2005–2008; 2020–2021). His interdisciplinary practice also includes mastery in brush painting and Vietnamese calligraphy. In 2025, he received the Mid Atlantic Arts Award.

Dr. Hong is the author of four monographs on đàn tranh performance and pedagogy:

• Complete Techniques for Đàn Tranh
• Catholic Liturgical Music Arranged for Đàn Tranh
• Đàn Tranh: Complete Techniques for North Vietnam Traditional Music
• Đàn Tranh: Complete Techniques for Huế Traditional Music

In addition to his scholarly work, he is an active composer whose works have received multiple international recognitions. His đàn bầu and tam thập lục composition, Lullaby of the Homeland (in collaboration with artist Thi Lalum), received two silver medals for instrumental performance and original composition in 2025. His solo đàn tranh works, Shadows in the Dawn and Whisper of the Prairie (2026), have also received multiple silver medals for instrumental performance, best media, and original score.

Three forthcoming books are scheduled for publication in November 2026:

• Đàn Tranh: Complete Techniques for South Vietnam Traditional Music
• Vietnamese Folksongs for Đàn Tranh
• A Very Ordinary Life (a collection of short stories derived from his published works in Nguoi Viet Ngay Nay)

Dr. Hong’s academic and leadership activities began during his undergraduate training, where he served as Vice President and President of the Vietnamese Student Associations at both Washington State University and the University of Washington, as well as Vice President of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. He has maintained sustained engagement in Vietnamese community-based organizations, including roles as Editor-in-Chief of multiple publications and as a Vietnamese language instructor and music director at Đắc Lộ Vietnamese Language School. His scholarly and creative works—including medical writing, literature, research on Vietnamese traditional music, and travel essays—are regularly published in the Vietnamese weekly newspaper Nguoi Viet Ngay Nay. He also serves as host of a traditional medicine program on VietTV.

Email:  director@vietmelody.org

Advisors
Attorney Martin Sjolie, legal advisors

Attorney Phong Nguyen, legal advisor

Dr. Norman So, MD, advisor

Officers:

Lakim Huynh - Public Relations

Minh Ngoc Tran - Treasurer

Jeanie Ngo - Secretary

Trung Duc Nguyen - Volunteer Coordinator