Co Chau Ha got on with the microphone after my "fashion show."
THIS IS ONE WOMAN I TREMENDOUSLY RESPECT. She walked on stage, into a room, and her voice DOMINATED the environment. There is no Vietnamese singer out there who can do this, to the best of my modest knowledge. Her voice was like the quality of my teacher/voice coach around that time, Jeanne Kelly, a mezzo soprano at Lamont School of Music in Georgetown, but with a touch/dash of a professional cabaret singer. She was so at ease with her voice, with her environment, with the music she chose (Vietnamese music of "semi-classical" style, often written by her husband, one of the best Vietnamese musicians out there in his generation and beyond).
Her stage presence was also enormous. She was SUNG MA~N IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD. She exuded the aura of a world-class singer, transcending cultures and boundaries, in every sense of the word "singer," in chamber, in cabaret, in orchestra environment, you name it.
This is a woman born with such vocal talent that is so exceptional, considering the meek physique and tender stamina of the average Vietnamese female!
And, she PERFORMED. (Many singers can be choir singers and nothing else). Co Chau A is a natural performer.
Remember, she is not a great traditional beauty, but she is handsome, wholesomely beautiful. Her charm and ease DOMINATE!
I also saw Khanh Ly singing in Ft. Chaffee camp, 1975, like a parole gypsy singer, and she too dominated, but in a totally different way. Khanh Ly chi co the hat "chan tran" ma thoi. Khanh Ly is not classical, semi-classical material. So, Khanh Ly is ours -- a Vietnamese product, but no capacity of internationalism like Chau Ha.
I also saw and heard Thai Thanh singing in a salon atmosphere (phong tra Dem Mau Hong in 1973, Saigon). She was stunningly beautiful, hair in sleek chignon, turquoise soiree, backless, being outstandingly tall and stately slim, and very expressive in front of the microphone in a narrow space. But nothing, nothing like co Chau Ha if you think solely of her voice. Plus, the uon eo of Thai Thanh could become annoying and it would take away the purity of music (international classical connoisseurs would say that Thai Thanh 'scoops" -- a "no no" in semi-classical.
You can watch and hear Co Chau Ha in this interview: exuding self-confidence with warmth and friendliness, no affectation, no issue of self-esteem, no manipulative effect on audience. No arrogance, just sheer self-confidence and warmth. Why? Co Chau Ha is REAL. a QUALITY very hard to find in the ethnic culture of Vietnamese.
Co Chau Ha is rare, and she is real.
Her story about the lesson she sought from the Western trainer in Saigon spoke for her integrity. She told the story with ease and honesty.
Co Chau Ha and her persona teach us Vietnamese women to break out of our cultural expectation when necessary. To be real yet approachable. She put on no air. She does not aim to please. She is simply her pleasing self.
Co Chau Ha stands so different from the "style" of Thanh Lan, for example, in interviews. Co Chau Ha is everything that "poupee" Thanh Lan is not. Thanh Lan is a people's pleaser, catered to the mass appeal of Vietnamese.
Co Chau Ha is not like that, because she was born with a real vocal and musical gift. She stands on her own, unadorned yet powerful with such vocal quality and stage presence that goes beyond being...Vietnamese! Yet, she remains so authentically Vietnamese, as seen in this interview.
I think her voice and her incredible stage presence are under-stated and not fully appreciated by Vietnamese audience of her time, and even now.
So I am proud to have had the opportunity to see her live on stage in that room in Arlington, VA.
This interview confirmed for me what I had had to live with: to listen, listen and listen. To become nhap tam with what is considered good voice and good music by listening. And to go beyond our cultural boundaries.
She never pretended to be "classical". She chose T. Rossi singing "Autumn Leaves"...
She talked about paying $500 Vietnamese piasters back then, to learn.
Learn, learn, learn. Listen, listen, and listen. She taught us.
WND C2018
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