Merited Artist Mai Lan performs on the
T’rung musical instrument.

For ages people of South-East Asia have known about the strong, durable properties of bamboo but few knew it is also a glue. Bamboo is the glue that keeps one closely knitted Vietnamese family bonded together via their unique bamboo instruments and musical performances. The members of the Tre Viet (Vietnam Bamboo) Band, established in 1993, all come from one family.

Eldest son Dong Quang Vinh performs on
the stone musical instrument.

The Tre Viet Band, headed by well-known artist Dong Van Minh, also includes his wife Mai Lai, their eldest son Dong Quang Vinh, younger son Dong Minh Anh and niece Nguyen Minh Trang. In their own right, each of them has contributed or is contributing to the musical arts in Vietnam.

Besides being the leader of Tre Viet, Van Minh works with and greatly contributes to the Vietnam Song, Dance and Music Theatre while his wife Mai Lai is the head of the Dan tranh (16 cord zither) department at the Traditional Musical Instruments Faculty of the Vietnam National Academy of Music. Eldest son Quang Vinh studies at the Shanghai Academy of Music in China; younger son Minh Anh and niece Minh Trang are studying at the Vietnam National Academy of Music.

Younger son Dong Minh Anh performs on
the Ching musical instrument.

Friends and relatives of Van Minh have always admired his devotion to the use and creation of bamboo musical instruments and it was this commitment to the art that caused him and Mai Lai to cross paths, fall in love and get married, being that she had been involved in music with the Dan tranh for so many years.

The couple's offsprings have inherited their parents' musical attributes. Since the age of 13, Quang Vinh has won numerous prestigious competitions for his talents on the T’rung, Meo flute and the bamboo flute. Minh Anh has won celebrated contests for his versatility on T’rung and stone musical instruments and Minh Trang won the 2008 competition for solo and concert performances.

Niece Minh Trang performs on the Dan tranh.

Whenever the family performs together with their bamboo instruments as the Tre Viet Band they receive rave reviews from patrons of the musical arts, especially for their renditions of Tay Nguyen music and folk songs from Vietnam's northern communities.

A foreign tourist is interested in the
bamboo musical instrument made by
Dong Van Minh.

Mai Lai sentimentally recalled when the band performed and taught at the Charity Art Club for disabled children and performances they did for wounded soldiers.

Tre Viet has taken their show to the international stage. In 1996 they performed in Japan, the land of the cherry blossom. Artist Mai Lai said: "At that time, young people were crazy about modern music genres, such as rock, hip hop, etc., and few people paid attention to the national musical instruments. Yet, when we went on stage and performed, you could have heard a pin drop in the concert hall as the people wanted to take in every note. After that show we performed in cities through Europe and judging by the audience’s reaction, I'm sure they enjoyed our performance. I have to admit that those days on the road were very exhausting, but enjoyable."

Members of the Tre Viet Band practice together at their house on Hao Nam Street in Hanoi.

The Dong family’s house on Hao Nam Street, close to the National Academy of Music, has become a familiar address for artists who love traditional music. In the cozy family atmosphere, we had a chance to enjoy the melodies imbued with the love for country and we seem to be lost in the tunes of bamboos.

Story by Nguyen Tuan Long - Photos by An Thanh Dat
Vietnam Pictorial