Performer Spotlight: - Minh Nguyen (December 2019 Concerto Soloist)

DMD Student

What's your connection to Penn?

I am a second-year dental student at Penn and am part of the Class of 2022.

Why did you choose to study dentistry?

Initially, I wanted to be a concert musician. I took some time off after college to perform and compete. After traveling and performing, I realized that I could still fulfill my musical goals while also pursuing my passion for the sciences. Dentistry was that answer and sort of a counterpart to piano for me – being able to utilize my hands and make people smile.

How long have you been playing the piano? 

I have been playing the piano for 20 years, since I was 6. I also have been playing the organ for 17 years and the violin for 7 years, but I stopped playing violin around the end of high school because I couldn’t make it sing *laughs*.

Why did you start studying the piano?

Well this is the story my parents told me. When I was 2, my parents had this toy xylophone with 8 keys that they played for me. My mother would play for me this French nursery rhyme called Frère Jacques. It’s the one that goes, “Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques, dormez-vous, dormez-vous?”

Later while my mother was cooking in the kitchen, she hears the melody out of the corner of her ear. So she goes into the living room and sees me hitting the keys with the toy mallet, playing back the melody that she had showed me earlier. I was too young to remember any of this, but my father and mother said that after they saw me playing the xylophone that day, they knew they had to start me on piano *laughs*.

My father would also tell me stories of his life back in Vietnam, where he grew up very poor and couldn’t afford a piano, since it was a hobby only the wealthy could pursue. One of his friends had a piano, and after his friend finished his daily piano lessons, my father would come over to his house and teach himself how to play. So for me learning piano formally was not only a privilege that I could pursue thanks to my parents, but also an opportunity to do something that my father only dreamt of doing.

Why is music important to you?

Music is the one language that everyone understands, no matter where they are from. People gather to hear music and it is something that everyone can relate to and appreciate. Everything that we see – whether it be film, art, or a musical – is enhanced by music. There is a quote by Rosina Lhévinne which states, “Music is the one universal language. It is the one language which can transcend those boundaries by which people continue to divide themselves.” Music is important to me because it is hard to imagine a world without it.

What's it been like working with the orchestra over the last semester? 

The PMSO is a fun group to work with. I know that they are all dedicated because they are taking time out of their schedules to gather and perform.  Dan always comes prepared prior to rehearsal, so it is great working with him and sharing ideas. The group as a whole has achieved a great amount of success in a short amount of time, and I know that they will continue to grow and do more as long as GAPSA and the university fully support them and open doors for them in the future.

In the Fall concert you will be performing Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2 with the orchestra, why did you choose this piece? 

It is a fun piece to play and probably is Camille Saint-Saëns’ most popular concerto. My father enjoys this piece, so it was something that I wanted to learn.

The piece is untraditional from a concerto point of view. A traditional concerto format is split into 3 movements - the first and third movements are usually fast while the second is slow. Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto has a relatively slower first movement and a lively second movement. The piece starts off like a Baroque fantasia with improvisational and fantastic spurts of energy throughout. The second movement develops into a scherzo that is filled with humor and wit, a style which is also heard in Saint Saëns’ Le carnaval des animaux. By the time we reach the third movement, it is very fast and energetic, mimicking Mendelssohn’s Saltarello from his Italian symphony. I’m looking forward to performing with the PMSO and bringing music to my fellow colleagues, professors, and the guests present at the concert.