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Born in Tam Ngai, Vietnam on Augyst 9, 1946, Nguyen Phong is a performer of traditional Vietnamese music and an ethnomusicologist. He began studying music at the age of 5 with his father, followed by formal instruction with master musician Tram van Kien [Muoi Kien] at the age of 10. Eventually he excelled in music for festivals and rituals, chamber and theatrical styles and Buddist chant, widely performing both vocally and instrumentally. He first studied Western music after moving to Saigon but earned the Baccalaureate degree in Vietnamese literature and philosophy at the University of Saigon. After teaching literature, he became principal of a high school (1970–74), adding music to the curriculum, which was then considered an innovation. After spending 1974–5 in Japan, he emigrated to Paris where he earned the PhD in Ethnomusicology at the Sorbonne (University of Paris), writing a prize-winning dissertation on Vietnamese Buddhist chant under Edith Weber and Trân Van Khê. After being appointed to the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), he began working in the USA in 1983, eventually becoming a citizen. He has held positions at UCLA, the University of Washington, the University of Pittsburgh and Kent State University. Both his performance activities and research have continued with grants from the Social Science Research Council, the Asian Cultural Council, Earthwatch and the National Endowment for the Arts, which awarded him a National Heritage Fellowship in 1997. In 1990, along with Terry E. Miller, he founded the International Association for Research in Vietnamese Music and during the 1990s he conducted comprehensive fieldwork throughout Vietnam, the first person to do so after the end of the war. Nguyen performs internationally and publishes research in both English and Vietnamese. As a professional performer of traditional music and song, he brings to his writing an insider's knowledge, especially with regard to Vietnam's complex modal system. Following the retirement of Trân Voun Khê, Nguyan has become the leading authority on and exponent of Vietnamese music.

Grove Music Online - Terry E. Miller