When Vietnam’s premier music ensemble arrived in Vancouver in 1992 for a gig at the Vancouver Folk Festival they knew instinctively that it was time to take a new turn in life. Leaving behind their prestigious careers in Vietnam, Hoang Ngoc Bich and Ho Khac Chi decided to stay in Canada. And over the past eight years they’ve built a new career and a stellar reputation based on musical virtuosity and lively stage shows with superb audience interaction.
Like many Asian artists now based in Vancouver the group have set out to bring their traditional music to western audiences in ways those audiences can appreciate and enjoy it. For the Khac Chi ensemble this has meant coming up with lively new arrangements of traditional tunes and creative stage antics to capture their listeners: at one point in their show all three musicians play the same flute each blowing into a different hole. At another, Chi plays the dan dap a percussion instrument made of hollow bamboo tubes with his feet. At another the group plays a collection of flutes fixed with “turkey-baster style” air bulbs so that one musician can play several flutes just by squeezing the bulb-end under his arm or between his head and shoulder. All the while the group encourage audience participation and educate their spectators about the different styles of music they are playing.
At the same time the ensemble honors Vietnamese musical tradition by performing mostly traditional pieces and by playing only instruments that are indigenous to Vietnam. (Their innovative adaptations are frequently born out of the desire to play several instruments with fewer musicians than in a typical Vietnamese ensemble.)
Khac Chi’s combination of musical virtuosity and sheer entertainment value have earned them the opportunity to play all over Canada the US and Europe. They have toured in France Belgium Hawaii New York California Arizona Pennsylvania Connecticut and Ohio and have played several major festivals in Canada including Harbourfront Sunfest and Festival d’ete.
In fact it was their impressive performances that helped them remain in Canada in the first place and eventually become Canadian citizens. The ensemble’s first two years in Vancouver were spent playing regionally for Vietnamese communities to build up their reputation and build support for their application for Landed Immigrant Status. In 1994 they met noted Vancouver performer and ethnomusicologist Randy Raine-Reusch and it was he who helped them get a foot in the door in the North American world music scene. The trio used booking agents in Canada and the US and have been working full time as musicians since 1994.
Before arriving to Canada the Khac Chi ensemble were one of Vietnam’s most renowned ensembles. Chi was an award-winning composer in Vietnam and is considered the world’s premier virtuoso on the dan bau a one string zither. He was a professor at the Vietnam Conservatory of Music the conductor of the Conservatory’s traditional instrument orchestra and the leader of a number of touring ensembles including “Scent of the Lotus” which later evolved into the Khac Chi ensemble.
Ngoc Bich was the first woman in Vietnam ever to win first prize on the dan bau in the Vietnam Competition of Professional Instrumentalists. She is also credited as the first woman ever to play the ko ni a two string stick fiddle where silk threads are attached to a disc that is held in the mouth so that the mouth can serve as the resonating chamber for the instrument. Bich was a regular performer for national and international radio and television in Vietnam and received frequent invitations to perform with the country’s top ensembles. She has toured internationally both on her own and as part of The Khac Chi ensemble.
[headline photo Khac Chi at the Folk Alliance in Vancouver – Photo by Angel Romero]
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.