Van–Anh Vanessa Vo
“To say Võ is making a splash is an understatement. Her compositions’ rippling blend of musical genres and music played on her native country’s instruments and often sung with her luminous vocals, have mesmerized musicians and audience alike.”
—San Francisco Classical Voice
“Võ is a veteran when it comes to taking risks, and it pays off in her compelling music” (NPR).
A fearless musical explorer, Vân-Ánh Võ is an award-winning performer of the 16-string dan tranh (zither) and an Emmy Award-winning composer who has collaborated with Kronos Quartet, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Yo-Yo-Ma, Seattle Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Minneapolis Orchestra Symphony.
In 1995, Vân-Ánh won the championship title in the Vietnamese National Đàn Tranh (Zither) Competition. Additionally, she has been co-composer and arranger for the Oscar® nominated and Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner for Best Documentary, Daughter from Danang (2002), the Emmy® Awards winning film and soundtrack for Bolinao 52 (2008), the winner of multiple “Best Documentary” and “Audience Favorite” awards, A Village Called Versailles (2009), and PBS documentary “Vietnam War” directed by Kent Burn.
She has presented her music at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center (2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2023), Lincoln Center, NPR, Houston Grand Opera, Adelaide Festival, Holland Music Festival, UK WOMAD Festival, and London Olympic Games 2012 Music Festival. She has been invited and participated as a screening judge in the Global Music category for both the 2015, 2016 & 2018 Grammy® Awards. Under the Obama administration, Vân-Ánh became the first Vietnamese artist to perform at the White House and received the Artist Laureate Award for her contribution to communities through the arts.
Vân-Ánh has received awards and supports for her projects and compositions from foundations such as Hewlett 50 Commissions, Gerbode Foundation, Creative Work Fund, MAP Fund, Chamber Music America, New Music USA, City of San Jose, Taproot Fellow, and more.
“People choose to be artists care so deeply about what it represents!
Artists are holding up a mirror up to society. They tell the stories of who we are.
The people who work to support and uplift the works of artists are among the most talented, skilled, and top of the field anywhere in the world and they have dedicated their lives to it. They have sacrificed a lot.
When we have very smart people, they often want to go into another business that would make them more money or more prestige. These are the people who are so dedicated to the mission and holding the desires of telling the stories of who we are as Americans.
Artists should have the freedom of expression and the free experimentations of new ideas = what an artist does
Artists are at their sole communicators. They are story tellers no matter what their genres are: whether they are painters, musicians, composers, singers, visual artists, dancers … They have to have the freedom to tell those stories.
Without that freedom, they will go somewhere else. The national cultural center should be where they feel the safest, and feel at home. It has to be the platform that artists feel welcome and safe.
Arts speak for itself. Arts sometime do not make you comfortable but it tells the stories of who we are.
The cultural center is not just welcoming everybody (every artists) but seeing themselves, and hearing stories
🡺 The cultural center is not just welcoming me but seeing myself, and hearing my stories. I feel this cultural center is my cultural center too.
Art is all around us. Art is a way to unify us, not dividing us.
Deborah Rutter
