Tra Nguyen
Biography
Tra Nguyen
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Tra made her solo debut at age of ten, and shortly thereafter gave her first concerto performance with the Hanoi Conservatoire Orchestra. In 1987 she was selected by representatives of the Moscow Conservatoire to study at the Gnessin Music College. In 1992 she was awarded a five-year scholarship from Japan to study with Lev Naumov in the Moscow Conservatoire where she graduated as Master of Fine Arts in 1997.
Moving from Russia to England, Tra received scholarships from the Vietnamese government and from the Royal Academy of Music to complete her post-graduate studies there with Christopher Elton. In 1999 she graduated from the RAM with its highest award for her piano recital (Dip RAM). In 2001, Tra won the First Prize at the Brant International Piano Competition in Birmingham and a year later was chosen to be one of ‘The Ten Distinguish Young People’ by the Vietnamese government for her commitment to her work.
Tra has also given many solo recitals, chamber concerts and concerto performances in Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, the UK and the USA. She has recorded most of the standard piano-concerto repertoire for Vietnam television and is the frequent guest of the Ho Chi Minh City Symphony Orchestra and the National Vietnamese Symphony Orchestra. She has broadcast for Hong Kong Radio Four Broadcasting and recently performed at the Shostakovich centenary festival at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. A chamber-music CD with the clarinettist Sabine Grofmeier was recently released by ClassicClips, a German label which promotes young musicians. Tra is currently preparing further recording projects with Toccata Classics to explore lesser-known works by Raff, Ornstein and other composers.
Moving from Russia to England, Tra received scholarships from the Vietnamese government and from the Royal Academy of Music to complete her post-graduate studies there with Christopher Elton. In 1999 she graduated from the RAM with its highest award for her piano recital (Dip RAM). In 2001, Tra won the First Prize at the Brant International Piano Competition in Birmingham and a year later was chosen to be one of ‘The Ten Distinguish Young People’ by the Vietnamese government for her commitment to her work.
Tra has also given many solo recitals, chamber concerts and concerto performances in Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, the UK and the USA. She has recorded most of the standard piano-concerto repertoire for Vietnam television and is the frequent guest of the Ho Chi Minh City Symphony Orchestra and the National Vietnamese Symphony Orchestra. She has broadcast for Hong Kong Radio Four Broadcasting and recently performed at the Shostakovich centenary festival at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. A chamber-music CD with the clarinettist Sabine Grofmeier was recently released by ClassicClips, a German label which promotes young musicians. Tra is currently preparing further recording projects with Toccata Classics to explore lesser-known works by Raff, Ornstein and other composers.