In all of Kieu Trang's program advertisements in Germany, the words "Vietnam" are capitalized after her name.

A special talent at "UNICEF GALA" 2014

In November 2014, at the "UNICEF GALA" festival held at the Maritim Cologne theater in Germany, a 15-year-old Vietnamese girl was chosen to perform the opening act of the festival, in a vast gala auditorium with 1,000 spectators.

Kieu Trang at UNICEF Gala, Cologne, November 2014

Mr. Heribert Klein - Director of the Gala program, had a very special introduction: "I ask everyone to be absolutely quiet for exactly 6 minutes. In return, I promise you something that I think you will enjoy. That is the voice of a 15-year-old singer, a voice that surpasses all 3 Oktaver, an absolute success in the Voice Kids program and has brought more than 8 million television viewers more than admiration."

Then a very young and gorgeous Vietnamese girl stepped onto the stage, with her superb Opera voice, without a microphone or amplifier, completely conquering the entire audience with the song "Hölle Rache Zauberflöte" by Mozart, accompanied by the famous artist John Florenzio on the piano. Kieu Trang, the young artist, did not disappoint the Director's trust, singing beyond her own previous achievements, reaching 4 Oktaver (according to the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper and UNICEF GALA Musikmanager).

When Kieu Trang finished and bowed, immediately the Music Director of the Paris Opera House and three world-famous Opera Tenor artists: Mikhail Agafonov - Russia, Eduardo Aladren - Spain went up on stage to present flowers and congratulate, and especially artist Andrea Shin - Korea, also went up on stage to kneel and present flowers to Kieu Trang amidst the resounding applause of more than a thousand attendees.

Kieu Trang, the 15-year-old singer, is the daughter of Pham Manh Cuong, a Hanoian, and Petra Pham, a German. In 2013, at the age of 14, studying in grade 8, Kieu Trang surpassed 14,000 contestants in the prestigious competition for children "The Voice Kids Gemany 2013" organized by Pro7 and Sat1 TV channels, Germany, to enter the top 12. In the same year, at the young talent competition "You Berlin 2013", Kieu Trang won two major awards at the same time: Second prize for young talent Berlin 2013 and, first prize for young talent Berlin most loved by the audience.

After two competitions, Kieu Trang was invited to attend the 2013 UNICEF Annual Gala in Düsseldorf, Germany, as a guest singer. This was the first time she stood on a big stage, performing with the world's giant artists in front of more than a thousand international audiences and guests. Yet after the performance, with the clear and high Opera voice of the 14-year-old girl, the whole hall stood up and applauded, wave after wave, for several minutes.

In 2014, Kieu Trang was continuously invited to attend the next UNICEF Galas. August in Filzmoos, Austria and November in Cologne, Germany.

Gifted Opera Voice, and Extraordinary Efforts

Since she was 3 years old, living in Germany with her Vietnamese father and German mother, Kieu Trang knew many Vietnamese songs taught to her by her parents. As soon as she opened her eyes, she sang all day long like a baby bird.

At the age of 6, Kieu Trang's mother sent her to learn ballet and piano. If she continued to practice diligently, she could become a ballet actress or a pianist. But as people often say, life has sudden turns that can change one's direction, sometimes even a lifetime.

That day, Kieu Trang and her friends in the Piano class were waiting for class time. There was nothing to do, so the children flocked to the door of the vocal class. At that moment, the teacher was sitting at the piano, instructing the students in singing. The children outside were also singing along. One rhythm, two rhythms, then three rhythms... each time more difficult, like a challenge. The teacher's official students were all out of tune by the last rhythms. The children outside the door had also stopped singing. Only the only girl was standing outside the door, her voice still clear, singing along to the teacher's gradually more difficult piano, until the last chord.

The teacher was silent and then walked towards the door. The children were scared and ran away. Finally, the music teacher found Kieu Trang. He discussed the above story with his piano teacher colleague and decided to send her to his friend, the famous opera artist Thomas Seyfarth, at the Komiker Oper Berlin. The artists there immediately assessed the little student's voice. Indeed, right from the first time, Kieu Trang's natural voice caught the experienced ears of the great artists. Mr. Thomas Seyfarth not only accepted Kieu Trang as a student but also wanted to train her to become a real solo opera artist for the future. From then on, Kieu Trang followed him to practice at the theater every Sunday.

An 11-year-old child suddenly changing direction to a challenging path is extremely rare, because opera singers in Europe are selected on the fingers every year, just like in Vietnam, it is rare to choose a young actress to follow the career of a geisha.

In 2013, when Kieu Trang was 14 years old, Europe opened the competition “The Voice Kids Gemany” with Pop music. Yet from the beginning, when Kieu Trang brought her Opera voice through classical songs to the competition, not only was she highly appreciated by the judges, but they also considered it a highlight of the competition. To the point that in the blind audition round, the judges convinced Kieu Trang to continue singing Opera and considered it the “Highlight” of the competition.

When she entered the TOP 12, in the next round, the organizers asked Kieu Trang to sing the Opera song that she had successfully performed in the qualifying round. But Kieu Trang wanted to sing a Pop song, only singing Pop music would give her a chance to continue. Not accepted, she understood, the game would end here. Indeed, despite the enthusiastic applause of the audience, she still had to leave the game. Although she did not win in the final round, in the hearts of fans, event organizers and music producers, the name Kieu Trang is like a bright note that connects the 14-year-old girl with classical music. And Opera for Kieu Trang is indeed a destiny.

After her successful performance at the UNICEF Gala in Düsseldorf in December 2013, Kieu Trang was noticed by many people in the classical music world. Especially Professor Friedrich-Wilhelm Tebble, vocal lecturer at the Hanover Conservatory. Admiring Kieu Trang's voice, he wanted to introduce Kieu Trang in Hanover to his colleagues, who were also his superiors. So the whole family went to Hanover so that Kieu Trang could have her voice assessed once again.

Here Kieu Trang met Professor Dr. Chalotte Lehmann. She is a famous Sopran singer, has won many international awards, and has toured many countries around the world. She also recorded videos and tapes for many famous programs about classical music. From 1994 to 2000, she held the position of President of the German Federation of Vocal Teachers and until now she still holds the position of Honorary President of this Federation of Vocal Teachers. In addition, she is also the President of the Jury of the Federal Federation of Vocal Competitions. Currently, she opens advanced training courses for famous singers and nurtures young talents. Many of her students have become famous artists.

After listening to Kieu Trang sing a test, Chalotte Lehmann noticed that Kieu Trang was still weak in the low notes. She took the opportunity to instruct her on a breathing technique to gradually overcome that shortcoming. Then she went to teach another student, and asked to return in 45 minutes. During that short period of time, Kieu Trang focused on practicing. When the professor returned, she asked Kieu Trang to sing the song she had sung before, using the technique she had just instructed. Unexpectedly, within just 45 minutes of self-practice, Kieu Trang had mastered the new technique and overcome the shortcomings she had made before, something that should have taken 3 months of practice.

She asked in surprise, do you practice qigong? The little girl then shyly showed off that she had been practicing kung fu since she was 6 years old, and by the age of 12 she had achieved a second-degree black belt and had won the European championship twice in her age and sect. It was thanks to practicing qigong that she was able to shorten her training time to the maximum.

Admiring her ability, Chalotte Lehmann decided to enroll Kieu Trang in a special course for young talents. From then on, once a week, after school, Kieu Trang traveled alone by train and bus, 300 kilometers from Berlin to Hanover and back, taking 7 hours, in all weather conditions, just to have the professor practice her vocal technique in a lesson, only 45 minutes long.

Since Kieu Trang started studying with Professor Chalotte Lehmann, it has only been about 5 months, but her technique and vocal power have improved significantly, giving her the opportunity to shine on the stage of the UNICEF Gala in Cologne last November. Indeed, the extraordinary efforts and hardships she has endured have finally been duly rewarded with the admiration of thousands of audiences.

In addition to singing and studying culture at a specialized school, Kieu Trang also composes and sets many of her own songs to music, posting them on Youtube and other social networks for everyone to enjoy.

The cradle of original culture in the family

Kieu Trang's mother is German and loves music. Her dream as a girl was to become a pianist. But due to an unfortunate accident, her fingers could not move on the piano keys as she wished, so she poured all her aspirations into her child.

As a mother, someone who studies Asian history and understands Vietnamese, she knows her child is gifted. But as a teacher, she understands that giftedness can only become talent if her child meets a good teacher and she herself must practice diligently. She cares about her child's studies and practice from a young age. And now, even though her child is grown up and has become famous after competitions, she still practices with her child every day. Kieu Trang is now used to it, no matter what the situation is, before going to bed, she must sing three songs for her mother. Only then will her mother sleep well. Her mother told her so and looking at her mother's eyes every night when she heard her sing, she also believes it.

Kieu Trang's father is originally from Hanoi and has worked for Kinoton, Germany, for over twenty years. Because his father is a sound engineer, Kieu Trang always considers him as the most demanding audience member, the one who helps her evaluate the songs she has just learned. Kieu Trang is always grateful to her parents because they are the ones who give wings to her singing dreams.

There is another person in the family who has a great influence on the little girl, although she only met him once in her life when she was 2 years old. That is her grandfather, Meritorious Artist, cinematographer Pham Ngoc Lan, who has won many domestic and international awards for the films he shot such as Mother Away from Home, Dream Lamp, When the Birds Return... When she was 2 years old, she followed her parents to visit her grandfather. A 2-year-old child cannot speak, only making sounds when being held by her grandfather. But with intuition, just through the meaningless sounds from the mouth of a 2-year-old child, he predicted that his grandson would have a natural talent beyond others. Indeed, those premonitions have now come true. The little girl also always remembers her grandfather who has passed away. Every time she is successful or has something on her mind, something she wishes for, she lights incense in front of his altar, then talks as if her grandfather is present in front of her.

Epilogue

Pham Kieu Trang, a completely Vietnamese name even though she has only half Vietnamese blood. In any performance, whether national or international, that purely Vietnamese name makes the program makers unable to avoid adding the two words Vietnam under her name. She has brought glory to Vietnam, when all her advertisements in Germany were published, they included her name followed by the two words Vietnam in capital letters.

When writing the last lines of this article, I suddenly remembered the image of Kieu Trang on the stage of the Vietnamese Cultural Festival held last year on a beautiful island in Potsdam, Germany called Friendship Island. On the stage that day, the clear, high-pitched voice of a 14-year-old girl rose. All activities suddenly stopped and everyone looked up. A young woman with a European figure in a Vietnamese ao dai and long, very Vietnamese hair fluttering in the wind. She was singing with all her inner strength and heart. That image, that voice is the result of the loving blending of two German and Vietnamese bloodlines./.

According to VOV