Tri began studying the piano at age five in Vietnam with French-trained teachers. After graduation from the Music Conservatory of Saigon, he continued his studies at the École Normale de Musique de Paris with great teachers such as Jacques Lagarde, himself a former student of Marguerite Long and Clara Haskil; then Ramzi Yassa, the concert virtuoso trained in Moscow, with whom he discovered the great Russian piano tradition.

Born in South Vietnam to a literati family strongly attached to its ancestral culture, Tri’s parents believed that studying the piano was not enough for his musical education, and found an old zither master with whom he began to study the đàn-tranh (Vietnamese zither). Zither master Hai Biểu was one of the last musicians belonging to the old school of Vietnamese music.

Thus, from an early age, Tri divided his time between two cultures – two musical worlds. The piano represents his family’s opening to the Western world; the đàn-tranh reflects the importance of the ancient traditions of Vietnam.

Tri is the only concert musician in the world to master both the piano and the đàn-tranh. His concerts are unique moments in which the piano repertoire is followed by melodies from the distant past of Vietnam, revived by Tri’s passionate desire to preserve and promote his ancestral musical heritage. Tri still uses the old annotation system for his đàn-tranh scores, where words are used instead of notes, contrary to his western music training. Unfortunately, this annotation is generally no longer used and has been replaced by the Western music system.

Tri has performed in Vietnam, the United States and Europe. He has collaborated with eminent artists from The United States, Canada, France, Scotland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Africa, Argentina, Venezuela..., most of whom are Grammy and International Awards recipients. His music has been aired around the world such as on BBC Radio 3, M21 Spain, Concertzender FM Netherlands, France Culture, Protestant Frequency, Radio RMA, Radio RCF, Demain TV-France, Mundo Internacional Mexico, and others.

His debut album, ‘Consonnances’, combining the ancient homeland melodies of the đàn-tranh with the Western harmonies of a classical string quartet, received instant international acclaim. The press and publications, as diverse as Songlines, Voix des Arts and World Music Central, praise ‘Consonnances’ for the beauty of its conception and execution, with Songlines quoting: “in Zither Master Tri Nguyen, Vietnam has a fine ambassador...”. In Vietnam, the press describes Tri Nguyen as a musician who revives and places Vietnamese music on international stages.

In Summer 2015, ‘Consonnances’ received the USA Global Music Award’s Gold Medal in the World Music Category and was chosen as one of the top ten albums of 2015. In November the same year, the album received another Award from AKADEMIA USA for Best Album (Instrumental/Classical category).

Since 2016, Tri has been a voting member of the Academy Awards/NARAS and is Honorary Judge at the Global Music Awards USA.

To date, Tri has released four albums, one EP and five singles and has received awards from the IMA (New York), GMA (USA), OWMR (UK) and AKADEMIA Music Awards (USA). His albums have made their way to the first round of the Grammy Awards for several years in a row.

For this album, “Duos–Alone”, Tri plays both the đàn-tranh and the piano on pieces he started composing for his now late mother during the Covid-19 pandemic.