NGO MINH TRI’s BIO
Self-taught music theory and guitar since his young teenage years back in Vietnam before 1975,
Ngo Minh Tri started his musical journey by playing for himself and his friends throughout high
school and college. It interrupted this journey after the fall of Saigon.
Settled in the US in the early 80s, he jumpstarted his musical journey again by contributing his
musical talent to many cultural and art programs in the local community. He was also invited to
direct a college chorus organized by Xac Dinh Magazine to nurture and promote Vietnamese
culture overseas. This college chorus member included Vietnamese students from many colleges
and universities throughout Virginia who gathered to perform songs about their homeland
Vietnam under his baton.
In addition, he also organized many concerts by himself and with some close friends to showcase
every musical talent he could find in the community. The music arrangements were always
written and performed his way, especially the Vietnamese songs' interpretation of how the music
should sound.
In the meantime, he went back to school, George Mason University to get a degree in music.
While in college then after graduating, he never stopped performing for the cultural and arts’
nonprofit groups in the community and organizing his own concerts.
Then, by the late 90s, his musical journey turned to a never-thought-of direction: creating his
music through his songs, where he combined a few jazz elements, a few classical music
elements, and even a little Latin music. In 2005, he introduced his first music album, C Major
Blue, to the Vietnamese community. It has yet to be successful. The main reason for it is that the
musical language he created was very unfamiliar to Vietnamese music mainstream.
Not getting discouraged by the fact that his music has not been accepted in the Vietnamese music
world, and it might never be, Ngo Minh Tri is still silently writing his songs. He's still learning,
searching for, and trying something new. He would be fine traveling alone on the musical
journey he started long ago. He believes in art, especially the musical art form he created. And he
knows somewhere along the way; he'd meet many music lovers, some of whom would be those
seeking a proper art form just like himself.
