Quynh Nguyen

Performances and critical acclaim

She made her New York debut in 2001, and, according to The New York Times, "received high praise from reliable quarters for her New York debut recital". American piano critic Harris Goldsmith reviewed her performance of Chopin in favorable terms, comparing her to pianists such as Ignaz Friedman, Murray Perahia, and Arthur Rubinstein. Richard Dyer of The Boston Globe, reviewing a 2003 performance, wrote, "She is often sensitive and poetic, and when she should dazzle with lively rhythm, piquant inflexions, and dashing virtuosity... she knows how to." Quynh Nguyen was selected as one of the "19 young stars of tomorrow" by Musical America in 2004.

Quynh has performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe, and Asia, in notable venues such as the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York; McEvoy Auditorium and the Freer Gallery at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.; the Berlin Konzerthause in Berlin, Germany; the Grand Opera House in Hanoi, Vietnam, among many others. She has performed as a soloist with the Berlin University Orchestra, the San Francisco Concerto Orchestra, the Bellflower Orchestra, the Brentwood-Westwood Symphony Orchestra, the Hanoi Symphony Orchestra, and the Regional Wind Orchestra of Paris. She participated and performed at various international music festivals, such as the Verbier Festival, Switzerland; the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France; the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Rockport Music Festival, and the International Keyboard Institute and Festival, among others. A prizewinner in various national and international piano competitions, she has been featured on numerous radio stations throughout the United States. Her performance of the Beethoven's “Moonlight” Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp Minor was featured on Wayne Picciano's "Grand Piano" series, which was broadcast on television in multiple states across the country. She was interviewed and featured on Japanese Television Fujisankei as well as Vietnamese national television. In February 2013, her interview and performances at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and at Hunter College were broadcast on CUNY TV channel 75, in a program titled “Study With the Best.” Her compact disc recordings are available with Arabesque Recordings.

Background

She started piano at age four with her uncle, and was nine years old when she gave her first recital. She first studied at the Hanoi Conservatory, and made her orchestral debut at age 11; she went on to receive a scholarship at Moscow's Gnessin State Musical College (where she studied with pianist Oleg Musorin), and continued her studies at the Juilliard School, Mannes College of Music, and CUNY Graduate Center.

She received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Graduate Center of City University of New York in 2009. Her teachers include Bella Davidovich, Jerome Rose, Jacob Lateiner, Martin Canin and Yvonne Loriod. She has participated in master classes of such artists as Tatiana Nikolaeva, Richard Goode, Jeffrey Swann, Peter Frankle, and Andras Schiff. She received a Fulbright Scholarship during 2004–2005 to study in France for a project entitled "Messiaen and the Eastern Influence on his Music". Her dissertation titled An Analysis of Olivier Messiaen's Last Piano Solo Work: Les petites esquisses d’oiseaux received the Barry Brook Dissertation award from the CUNY Graduate Center. Additionally, she is the recipient of several highly prestigious scholarships and awards, including the United States Presidential Academic Excellence Award.

Teaching

Quynh Nguyen is in demand as a dedicated and inspiring teacher. Her students have won numerous competitions and been accepted to many major colleges and conservatories, including the Mannes College of Music, Boston University, and Amherst College. She currently serves on the piano faculty of the International Keyboard Institute and Festival at Mannes College of Music in New York City and at Hunter College, City University of New York, where she teaches private piano instructions and conducts piano and chamber music master classes.

Discography

2002 Quynh Nguyen, piano - Arabesque Records - (Works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Ravel)

2004 (reissued in 2012) Quynh Nguyen plays Schubert Chopin - Arabesque Records (works by Schubert, Chopin)

2013 Quynh Nguyen In Recital, Live in New York - Arabesque Records - (Works by Beethoven, Messiaen, Chopin)