This week, long-time collaborators and friends Victoria Pham and artist, academic and filmmaker James Nguyen get together to talk about childhood experiences of classical music and a perspective of working with classical musicians from those outside the art world. James Nguyen is in his own words is “Asian passing,” dabbles with painting, documentary filmmaking, and conceptual art. Born on a coffee plantation in Vietnam, Nguyen arrived to Australia by plane. Having studied Pharmacy, Nguyen then pivoted to complete his Bachelor in Fine Arts and is now completing his PhD. He has been a Samstag scholar and fellow at Uniondocs NYC and been commissioned by 4A Arts Centre, Gertrude Contemporary, Bleed Festival, The National Exhibition for the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Australian War Memorial. In this episode, a conversation between two friends revolves from early musical expressions, the odd lag of classical music’s ability to critique itself under its illusion of its elitist and apolitical position in society, the cyclical nature of research in academia, and the revealing phenomena of Hamilton.

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Selected Resources (a full list is available in the transcript):

James Nguyen: http://jamesnguyen.com.au/bio/bio 

 PhD portfolio and research: https://chobotrouble.com/ 

Yeou-Cheng

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/19/arts/music/yeou-cheng-ma-childrens-orchestra-society.html

https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/culture/yo-yo-mas-sister-yeou-cheng-continues-familys-legacy 

Maria Anna Mozart

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/08/lost-genius-the-other-mozart-sister-nannerl