Thu Nguyen plays the dan tranh, a Vietnamese zither. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Thu Nguyen plays the dan tranh, a Vietnamese zither. Photo / Brett Phibbs
You know if you bring your father close to tears, you have done something pretty special.
For 18-year-old Vietnamese student Thu Nguyen, who lives in Auckland, it was not anything to do with her studies, but her hobby.
The emotional response from her Ho Chi Minh-based father, Minh Nguyen, cameafter telling him she had taken first place in the American Protege International Music Talent Competition Spring 2015 after composing a piece of music with the dan tranh, a traditional Vietnamese 17-string zither.
It was no small feat; the competition was open to piano, wind, string, brass and traditional instruments and vocalists from all nationalities and countries.
Miss Nguyen, one of a group of winners, will travel to New York in May where she will play at the prestigious Carnegie Hall.
"[My parents] were surprised. My father was about to cry."
It had been a long wait for the results. Participants submitted a video recording in December for the audition before the winners were announced last week.
Miss Nguyen has been in New Zealand for six months studying the two-year International Baccalaureate Diploma at Auckland International College.
She started to learn the zither when she was about 5 years old but later dropped the hobby. However, she picked it up again recently and had been fine-tuning her winning piece, Mua Thu Que Huong, or Autumn in Hometown.
