All of Kieu Trang's program advertisements in Germany follow her name with the words "Vietnam" written in capital letters.

A remarkable talent at the 2014 UNICEF Gala.

In November 2014, at the UNICEF Gala held at the Maritim Theatre in Cologne, Germany, a 15-year-old Vietnamese girl was chosen to perform the opening act in a vast ballroom with 1,000 spectators.

Kieu Trang at the UNICEF Gala, Cologne, November 2014

Mr. Heribert Klein, the Gala program director, gave a very special introduction: “I ask everyone to be absolutely silent for exactly 6 minutes. In return, I promise you something that I think you will thoroughly enjoy. That is the voice of a 15-year-old singer, a voice that surpassed all 3 Oktavers, an absolute success on the Voice Kids program and brought more than 8 million television viewers more than just admiration.”

Then a very young, radiant Vietnamese girl stepped onto the stage and, with her superb operatic voice, without a microphone or amplifier, completely captivated the audience with Mozart's "Hölle Rache Zauberflöte," accompanied on piano by the renowned artist John Florenzio. Kieu Trang, that young artist, did not disappoint the director, surpassing her own previous achievement, reaching 4 Oktaver (according to the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper and UNICEF GALA Music Manager).

When Kieu Trang finished and bowed, the music director of the Paris Opera House, along with three world-renowned opera tenors: Mikhail Agafonov from Russia, Eduardo Aladren from Spain, immediately went on stage to present flowers and congratulations. And, notably, artist Andrea Shin from South Korea also immediately went on stage, knelt, and presented flowers to Kieu Trang amidst resounding applause from over a thousand attendees.

Kieu Trang, the 15-year-old singer, is the daughter of Mr. Pham Manh Cuong from Hanoi and Ms. Petra Pham from Germany. In 2013, at the age of 14, while in 8th grade, Kieu Trang beat 14,000 contestants in the prestigious children's singing competition "The Voice Kids Germany 2013," organized by the German television channels Pro7 and Sat1, to reach the top 12. That same year, at the "You Berlin 2013" talent competition, Kieu Trang won two major awards simultaneously: Second prize in the Berlin Young Talent 2013 competition and first prize for the most popular young talent in Berlin, according to the audience.

After two competitions, Kieu Trang was invited to attend the 2013 year-end Gala of UNICEF in Düsseldorf, Germany, as a guest singer. This was her first time performing on a large stage alongside world-renowned artists in front of over a thousand international spectators and guests. And after her performance, with her clear and soaring opera voice at just 14 years old, the entire hall erupted in applause, which lasted for several minutes.

In 2014, Kieu Trang was repeatedly invited to attend subsequent UNICEF Galas: in August in Filzmoos, Austria, and in November in Cologne, Germany.

A God-given operatic voice, and extraordinary efforts.

Since she was a little girl of three, living in Germany with her Vietnamese father and German mother, Kieu Trang already knew many Vietnamese songs, taught to her by her parents. From the moment she woke up, she would chirp and sing all day long like a little bird.

At the age of six, Kieu Trang's mother enrolled her in ballet and piano lessons. If she had continued practicing diligently, she could have become a ballet dancer or a pianist. But as the saying goes, life has sudden turns that can change the course of a person's entire life.

That day, Kieu Trang and her friends from piano class were waiting for their lesson to begin. With nothing else to do, the children gathered at the door of the vocal class. Just then, the teacher was sitting at the piano, instructing his students in solfège. The children outside joined in, humming along. One rhythm, two rhythms, then three rhythms... each one more difficult, like a challenge. By the time the teacher's official students reached the final rhythms, they were all off-key. The children outside the door had stopped humming. Only one little girl remained, her clear voice still singing along to the increasingly difficult piano notes of the teacher, until the final chord.

The teacher fell silent for a moment, then walked towards the door. The children, frightened, scattered. Finally, the vocal teacher found Kieu Trang. He shared the story with his piano teacher and decided to send her to his friend, the famous opera singer Thomas Seyfarth, at the Komiker Opera House in Berlin. The artists there immediately assessed the young student's voice. Indeed, from the very first listen, Kieu Trang's naturally gifted voice captivated the experienced ears of the great artists. Thomas Seyfarth not only accepted Kieu Trang as his student but also wanted to train her to become a true solo opera singer in the future. From then on, Kieu Trang practiced with him at the theater every Sunday.

An 11-year-old child suddenly changing direction to such a challenging path is extremely rare, because the number of opera singers selected each year in Europe can be counted on the fingers of one hand, just as in Vietnam it is rare to find a young girl chosen to pursue a career as an opera singer.

In 2013, when Kieu Trang was 14 years old, Europe held the "The Voice Kids Germany" competition with pop music. From the very beginning, when Kieu Trang brought her operatic voice to the competition with classical songs, she was not only highly praised by the judges but also considered it a highlight of the competition. So much so that in the blind audition round, the judges persuaded Kieu Trang to continue singing opera, considering it the "highlight" of the round.

Having made it to the Top 12, in the next round, the organizers asked Kieu Trang to sing the opera she had successfully performed in the elimination round. However, Kieu Trang wanted to sing a pop song instead; only by singing pop would she have a chance to advance. Unaccepted, she understood that her journey would end there. Indeed, despite enthusiastic applause from the audience, she had to leave the competition. Although she didn't win in the final round, in the hearts of her fans, event organizers, and music producers, the name Kieu Trang became a significant note connecting the 14-year-old girl to classical music. And opera, for Kieu Trang, truly seemed like her destiny.

After her successful performance at the UNICEF Gala in Düsseldorf in December 2013, Kieu Trang attracted the attention of many in the classical music world. In particular, Professor Friedrich-Wilhelm Tebble, a vocal instructor at the Hanover Conservatory, was impressed by Kieu Trang's voice and wanted to introduce her to his colleagues and superiors at Hanover. So, the whole family traveled to Hanover so Kieu Trang could have her voice assessed once more.

Here, Kieu Trang met Professor Dr. Charlotte Lehmann. She is a renowned soprano singer who has won numerous international awards and toured extensively worldwide. She has also recorded and filmed many popular classical music programs. From 1994 to 2000, she served as President of the Federal Council of Vocal Teachers of Germany, and she remains its honorary president to this day. Furthermore, she is the chair of the judging panel for national vocal competitions. Currently, she offers advanced training courses for established singers and nurtures young talents. Many of her students have become famous artists.

After listening to Kieu Trang's audition, Charlotte Lehmann noticed that Kieu Trang still struggled with the lower notes. She quickly instructed the girl on a breathing technique to gradually overcome this weakness. Then she went to teach another student, promising to return in 45 minutes. During that short time, Kieu Trang focused all her energy on practicing. When the professor returned, she asked Kieu Trang to sing the song she had previously performed, applying the technique she had just taught her. Surprisingly, in just 45 minutes of self-practice, Kieu Trang had mastered the new technique and overcome her previous shortcomings, something that would have normally taken three months to learn.

The woman asked in surprise, "Do you practice Qigong?" The girl then shyly revealed that she had been practicing Kung Fu since she was six years old, and by the age of twelve she had achieved a second-degree black belt and had won the European championship twice in her age group and discipline. Thanks to practicing Qigong, she had significantly reduced her training time.

Impressed by the girl's abilities, Charlotte Lehmann decided to enroll Kieu Trang in a special course for talented young people. From then on, once a week, after her regular school classes, Kieu Trang would travel alone by train and bus for 300 kilometers from Berlin to Hanover and back, a journey of 7 hours in all weather conditions, just to receive vocal technique training from the professor in a single 45-minute lesson.

Since Kiều Trang began studying with Professor Charlotte Lehmann, only about five months have passed, but her technique and vocal power have improved dramatically, allowing her to shine on the stage of the UNICEF Gala in Cologne last November. Indeed, her extraordinary efforts and hardships have finally been rewarded with the admiration of thousands of spectators.

Besides singing and studying at a specialized school, Kieu Trang also composes and sets many of her own songs to music, uploading them to YouTube and other social media platforms for everyone to enjoy.

The cradle of culture lies within the family.

Kieu Trang's mother is German and has always loved music. Her childhood dream was to become a pianist. However, due to an unfortunate accident, her fingers could no longer glide across the piano keys as she wished, so she poured all her aspirations into her daughter.

As a mother, and a researcher of East Asian history with a good command of the Vietnamese language, she knew her child had talent. But as an educator, she understood that talent could only develop into skill if her child met a good teacher and diligently honed their skills. She cared about her child's studies and training from a young age. And now, even though her child is grown and has gained fame after competitions, she still practices with her every day. Kieu Trang is now used to it; no matter the circumstances, before going to bed, she has to sing three songs for her mother. Only then will her mother sleep soundly. Her mother told her that, and seeing the look in her mother's eyes every night when she hears her sing, she believes it too.

Kieu Trang's father is a native of Hanoi who worked for Kinoton, a German company, for over twenty years. Because her father is a sound engineer, Kieu Trang always considers him her most discerning audience member, the one who helps her evaluate the songs she's just starting to learn. Kieu Trang is always grateful to her parents because they are the ones who helped her dreams of singing take flight.

There was another family member who had a great influence on her, even though she only met him once in her life when she was two years old. That was her grandfather, Meritorious Artist and cinematographer Pham Ngoc Lan, who won numerous national and international awards for his films such as "Mother Absent," "The Lamp in the Dream," and "When the Birds Return." At the age of two, she went with her parents to visit him. Two-year-olds don't know how to speak, only making babbling sounds when held by their grandfather. But with intuition, through those meaningless sounds from the mouth of a two-year-old, he predicted that his granddaughter would have extraordinary talent. Indeed, those intuitive predictions have now come true. And she always remembers her deceased grandfather. Whenever she achieves success or has something she wants to confide in, she lights incense before his altar and talks to him as if he were present before her.

Epilogue

Pham Kieu Trang, a name that is entirely Vietnamese, even though she is only half Vietnamese. In any performance, whether national or international, that purely Vietnamese name makes it impossible for the organizers not to add the words "Vietnam" after her name. She has brought honor to Vietnam, as all her advertisements released in Germany include her name followed by the capitalized words "Vietnam".

As I write the final lines of this article, I suddenly remember the image of Kieu Trang on stage at the Vietnamese Cultural Festival held last year on a beautiful island in Potsdam, Germany, called Friendship Island. On that stage, the clear, pure voice of a 14-year-old girl soared. All activity seemed to stop, and everyone looked up. A young girl with European features, dressed in a Vietnamese ao dai and with long, flowing Vietnamese hair, was singing with all her heart and soul. That image, that voice, was the result of the loving blend of German and Vietnamese blood.

According to VOV