An Tran
Acclaimed Vietnamese classical guitarist An Tran has won over twelve international awards and competitions, and has performed at prestigious venues and events such as the Guitar Society of Toronto, New Orleans International Guitar Festival, New York Classical Guitar Society, Chicago Guitar Society and many others. Tran’s debut album, Stay, My Beloved (Frameworks Records), featuring all-Vietnamese guitar music, was released in 2020 and was critically acclaimed by Classical Guitar Magazine and Soundboard Magazine (Guitar Foundation of America), and named as one of the Recordings of the Year by the Chicago Tribune. His second album (Naxos), to be released on June 23, 2023, features the Romantic works of French classical guitarist and composer Napoleon Coste.
Quotes
Pizzacato.lu: “Overall, this is a very atmospheric album, performed by An Tran with flawless technique and subtle phrasing and color.”
Classical Guitar Magazine: “An Tran’s Stay, My Beloved (Vietnamese Guitar Music) is sure to make the year-end Top Ten list of my favorite classical guitar albums of the year. Still undeniably a classical-guitar album, with reference points Western audiences will recognize–highly virtuosic passages that display what a gifted guitarist An Tran truly is, whether effortlessly flying through dazzlingly speedy runs, or complex rhythmic shifts, unusual harmonies, or the many “effects” he employs.”
Tonebase: “The album itself is structured in a way that brings the listener on a journey through Vietnam.”
Six String Journal: “There is perhaps no better way to experience a culture than to listen to its folk music. It evokes myth, stories, history, and landscape. An Tran’s magical playing does all of this…”
Reviews
Recording Review: Ilumina: New Works for Guitar
by Ben Giesen Published on ClevelandClassical.com, July 20, 2026
On August 28th, the esteemed Vietnamese-born classical guitarist An Tran will debut his third album, Ilumina: New Works for Guitar. Consisting of 13 tracks composed for Tran by friends and contemporaries, this release offers a comprehensive exploration of the range of expression that is possible through contemporary classical guitar. The project features ten world premiere recordings.
The album begins with “Bella di Papà” — a warm introduction to the lyrical side of Tran’s playing. As he gracefully traverses the tessitura of his instrument, Tran’s keen attention to articulation and dynamics allow his phrases to take the shape of wind blowing through a wheatfield. If this seems like the kind of piece that could put a baby to sleep, composer Sarah D’Ippolito Reichert attests that she wrote it while “imagining how Tran might lull his daughter Ana-Lucía to sleep.”
Tracks by Paul Ibbotson, Olga Amelkina-Vera, and Juan Erena illustrate why Tran’s musicality represents so much more than just technical mastery. Although every component of his playing involves a high degree of precision, it never sounds rigid. As he winds his way through the playful melodies of Ibbotson’s “Little Dancer,” the distant, silky tone that he plucks from his higher strings make it seem as if he spontaneously switched instruments. From tone, to attack, to brief moments of vibrato, Tran’s use of inflection throughout the album makes even the most simple musical figures sound like they are being imagined for the first time.
It is especially refreshing to observe the emotional relevance of Tran’s choice of music — something that is often overlooked by composers in favor of writing solo repertoire that only highlights a performer's virtuosity. Even though the title “Étude No. 8” is not the most eye-catching, this Juan Erena composition is an excellent example of Tran’s intention to capture a specific emotion or moment in time. The most striking moment is when the final chord of the piece emerges from an uneasy sea of textures that stings like the betrayal of a close friend.
Ilumina comes full circle with the final five tracks which combine delicate strumming, superb tone, and a meticulous attention to pulse in order to create an emotionally satisfying conclusion. Khiem Nguyen-Duy’s Toccata on “Lý Kéo Chài,” a traditional Vietnamese melody, allows Tran to evoke the heft of a full orchestra while playing with grit. The last track, Nathan Stade’s “The Park Bench,” is a brief cascade of complementary motifs that capture the subtle serenity of a public bench.
Beyond marking an important milestone in the career of a promising artist, this solo guitar project represents manifestation of an unrelenting, exploratory attitude towards classical music. Whether you enjoy the genre or not, Ilumina is an excellent listen for anyone interested in music spawned from authentic, lived emotion.
Rudolph Lucek, President, Guitar Sarasota
For the last 20 years, Guitar Sarasota has presented the most celebrated and renowned classical guitarists from around the world. An Tran’s performance on April 11, 2026 distinguished itself as not only outstanding but as one of the most successful concerts that we have ever had. His technical ability, musicality, and range of musical expression were truly amazing.
Our performers have always presented the traditional classical guitar repertoire, but An’s choice of material was a true joy. He presented the classical guitar in a new and involving way and gave the instrument a new voice. His performance moved expressively from beautiful lyrical floating melodies to driving rhythmical passages that cast a magical web of sound that drew in the audience.
His presentation of material based on Vietnamese folk songs and legends was a concert highlight. The material was new, refreshing, and involving. The lady seated next to my wife told her that she was so moved that she was fighting back tears as An played “The Legend of the Bamboo Child.”
What also made the concert a great success was An Tran himself. He has a wonderful way of connecting with the audience. He was truly charming, and the audience could feel how much he loved the music that he played. He made them want to come along on the musical journey with him.
Our April concert is always our lowest attended concert as Sarasota has a large seasonal snowbird population and many leave in April. This was worsened by the political situation which has significantly depressed tourism, particularly Canadian tourism, our largest tourist segment, which is off by 30%. All the Arts organizations in Sarasota are experiencing lower attendance. But one measure of how moved our audience was by An’s performance can be seen in his CD sales. While we only had 100 – 120 attendees, An sold 50 CDs which was a record which far surpassed sales when our audiences are over 200.
I can not say enough about how wonderful An’s concert was. It was a great way to end our season. It left our audience moved, upbeat, and excited about next year’s season.
An’s music needs to be heard; it is moving, beautiful, unique, and a welcome addition to the classical guitar repertoire. We look forward to having An back in the future.
In Dorchester, the quiet virtuosity of Vietnamese guitarist An Tran
The introspective solo concert presented by Ashmont Hill Chamber Music offered a welcome departure from standard guitar-recital fare
Boston Globe - By A.Z. Madonna
In recent years, presenting organization Ashmont Hill Chamber Music has broadened the scope of its recital series to include music that doesn’t neatly fit into the Western classical tradition, and the experience is much richer for that. A program of Bach mixed with North Indian music was one standout before the pandemic shut the recital series down, and last fall the group welcomed Iraqi maqam group Safaafir.
Guitarist An Tran didn’t arrive at his solo recital at Ashmont’s All Saints Church on Sunday afternoon with any unfamiliar instruments; two exquisite classical guitars made by Boston-based luthier Stephan Connor were his only luggage. But anyone who was expecting the standard guitar-recital blend of Bach and Iberian repertoire was in for a surprise. When Europeans brought the guitar to Vietnam, the country’s traditional music already featured fretted and stringed instruments, and over the 100-plus years since, several uniquely Vietnamese guitar traditions have flourished. Now, writes Classical Guitar magazine, Vietnam has become a classical guitar hot spot, and Tran stands to become one of its most prominent ambassadors.
The world is loud in comparison to an acoustic guitar. In the few moments before the concert began, several sounds shattered the anticipatory silence: a chair creaking as someone dragged it across the floor, a cough, a child outside in the hallway calling for his mother. Tran hadn’t even played a note, but already the ears were acutely attuned.
And over the next 80 minutes, give or take a few, he graced the small but robust Sunday afternoon crowd with a slew of pieces from his 2020 debut album, “Stay, My Beloved,” featuring arrangements of Vietnamese traditional songs and original pieces written for guitar by composers Nguyen The An and Dang Ngoc Long. When some enthusiastic children piped up during the finale of Nguyen’s epic folktale-inspired “Bamboo Child” suite, Tran took it in stride with a smile.
Whether playing a low pentatonic melody with his thumb while the other four fingers murmured over the higher strings, or tapping the fretboard to create a dulcimer-like sound, he executed every phrase with subtle, graceful virtuosity. Some sections of the “Bamboo Child” suite recalled Renaissance lute music; other melodies wouldn’t have sounded at all out of place had they been played on a fuzzy surf guitar. With its gentle ephemerality, the music invited introspection.
No program notes were provided, but Tran chatted briefly about each selection as he rested and tuned between pieces. His comments added even more emotional resonance to pieces such as Nguyen’s bittersweet and tender “Lullaby,” which the guitarist dedicated to victims of COVID-19 and anyone who had lost a parent; and the soft but relentlessly hopeful “Remembrance,” which the Berlin-based composer Dang wrote to support a fellow Vietnamese friend whom he said was experiencing a mental health crisis. Another high point was Dang’s piece “Rain,” in which Tran coaxed pinging tones that evoked the composer’s childhood memory of drizzles and downpours falling on the metal roofs common in Vietnam. The acoustically exquisite Peabody Hall allowed this intricate music to shine.
Tran mentioned candidly that his only other performance in Boston was 10 years ago, with a choir, but if Sunday’s recital was any indication, it won’t take another decade before he and his guitars return to town. In the meantime, for anyone who missed Sunday’s performance, there’s his album, which is worth 45 minutes of your time; listen on a rainy spring day, like the many that are surely just around the corner.
Video Pick of the Week: An Tran Plays the Traditional Vietnamese Tune ‘Stay, My Beloved’; Plus A Review of His Great New Album
APRIL 25, 2020
Classical Guitar
Stay, My Beloved (Vietnamese Guitar Music)
An Tran
(Frameworks Records)
I know it’s only late April as I write this, but I can already tell that An Tran’s just-released Stay, My Beloved (Vietnamese Guitar Music) is sure to make the year-end Top Ten list of my favorite classical guitar albums of the year. Although An Tran has spent much of his still-young life studying and playing in the U.S. (he earned his master’s degree under Ben Verdery at Yale), he is still very much a product of his native Vietnam, where he started playing guitar at the age of 8, tutored by a guitarist named Nguyen Hai Thoai, and later attended the Vietnam National Academy of Music, where he studied with Vu Viet Cuong. Though his guitar education in the U.S., years of participating (successfully) in competitions, and also teaching have given him a thorough grounding in the classical guitar repertoire of every era and style, it’s clear he’s never forgotten his roots in Vietnam.
The proof is in every minute of his Stay, My Beloved album, which contains seven solo guitar pieces written by or arranged from traditional songs by a pair of contemporary Vietnamese composers, Nguyen The-An and Dang Ngoc Long. Now, I am an unabashed fan of many Asian music forms, from traditional Chinese and Japanese instrumental music, to Javanese gamelan, to Indian ragas and other folk forms. I’ve had relatively little exposure to the music of Vietnam, but I can still recognize in it elements that I’ve heard and loved in the folk music of other Asian countries, particularly China. And though many of the traditional instruments of Vietnamese folk music are unique to that region, they have analogs in other countries—zithers; fiddles; flutes; all sorts of stringed instruments of varying numbers of strings, some akin to banjos, others more lute-like; etc. Vietnamese music also employs various modal scales and particular intervals that give the music much of its character. I don’t have the knowledge or vocabulary to describe what’s going on musically to create the skipping quality of some melodic lines, or the spare, deliberate approach to others, where the combination of notes and the way they fall together, perhaps encased in an irregular rhythmic thrumming, is so distinctively compelling. But I appreciate its haunting beauty and also its power.
Stay, My Beloved is filled with those moments (including ones where An Tran is clearly mimicking the sounds of traditional instruments), and yet is still undeniably a classical-guitar album, with reference points Western audiences will recognize–highly virtuosic passages that display what a gifted guitarist An Tran truly is, whether effortlessly flying through dazzlingly speedy runs, or complex rhythmic shifts, unusual harmonies, or the many “effects” he employs: damping and snapping strings, bending notes, percussive strumming up and down the neck, fluttering cascades of notes; his uniquely Asian tremolo. It’s an amazing potpourri of styles and approaches, but they all hang together marvelously, and coalesce into a sort of enormous impressionist watercolor that depicts landscapes and the sounds of nature, and tell stories and talk about human emotions. (An Tran’s descriptive liner notes about each tune are very illuminating in this regard.)
This album can purchased and/or streamed through Amazon, and iTunes/Apple Music, bought on An Tran’s website, and streamed on Spotify and YouTube.
Videos
Photos
Click photo to download
Sample Program
2026 Ilumina Tour Program
(1-hour no intermission)
Paul Ibbotson (1979): Prelude in E minor
The Little Dancer
Sara d’Ippolito Reichert (1988): Bella di Papà
Olga Amelkina-Vera (Belarus): Ana-Lucía
Juan Erena (Spain): Find You Again
Amanda
The-An Nguyen (1970): Thánh Gióng (The Legend of the Bamboo Child)
I. Introduction
II. Childhood (Andante)
III. The Threat of War (Allegro)
IV. The Rise of the Hero (Larghetto)
V. War and Victory (Presto)
VI. The Ascension of the Hero (Largo)
Khiem Nguyen-Duy (1986): Variations and Fugue on “Ru Em” (Xê Đăng Lullaby)
I. Theme and Variations
II. Fugue
Toccata on “Lý Kéo Chài”
Bio
An Tran
Praised by The Boston Globe for his “subtle, graceful virtuosity” and by Pizzicato for his “flawless technique and subtle phrasing and color,” Vietnamese guitarist An Tran has established an international career distinguished by artistic innovation, cultural connection, and a commitment to expanding the expressive possibilities of the classical guitar. Cleveland Classical has recognized Tran’s “personal artistic identity,” shaped by contemporary commissions and music reflecting his Vietnamese heritage, while praising a musicality that is “so much more than just technical mastery.”
Tran’s latest album, Ilumina: New Works for Guitar, released in August 2026 on Prima Classic, brings this artistic vision vividly to life. Featuring thirteen tracks composed specifically for Tran by friends and collaborators from around the world, the recording celebrates the personal relationships, cultural influences, and shared experiences that inspire his artistry. BBC Music Magazine praised its “soundworld of warmth and friendship,” while Pizzicato described Ilumina as “a very atmospheric album.” Cleveland Classical hailed the recording as “a comprehensive exploration of the range of expression” possible through contemporary classical guitar, highlighting music born from “authentic, lived emotion.”
Blending traditional Vietnamese influences with a diverse international musical language, Ilumina explores themes of family, memory, friendship, and cultural identity. Cleveland Classical characterized the album as the expression of an “unrelenting, exploratory attitude towards classical music,” while BBC Music Magazine emphasized the meaningful connections among Tran, the composers, and his family. Music from Ilumina was also selected for BBC Radio 3’s Record Review, a program showcasing “the best new classical releases.”
Tran’s dedication to contemporary music extends beyond the recording studio to the concert stage. Reviewing his 2026 debut with the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society, which featured a program devoted entirely to living composers and works written almost exclusively for him, Cleveland Classical called his adventurous programming a “risk worth taking.” The publication praised his ability to draw upon a strong foundation in traditional repertoire while forging a distinctive artistic voice through contemporary commissions and music inspired by his homeland.
Tran made his recording debut with Stay, My Beloved (Frameworks Records, 2020), an album celebrating Vietnamese musical traditions through folk melodies and works by contemporary composers. Soundboard praised his “exquisite sense of space, touch, and mood,” describing the recording as “deeply moving music at its best.” Classical Guitar Magazine called it “an unforgettable journey to a world you’ve probably never been to,” and the album was named among the Chicago Tribune’s “Recordings of the Year.”
In 2023, Tran released Napoléon Coste: Guitar Works, Vol. 6 on the Naxos label, earning praise from American Record Guide for his “immaculate ornaments and cultivated sense of phrasing.” Together, his three recordings reveal an artistic journey that bridges Vietnamese musical heritage, the European classical tradition, and the creation of new repertoire for the twenty-first-century guitar.
An internationally sought-after performer, Tran has appeared in prestigious concert series and festivals, including the Guitar Society of Toronto, New York Classical Guitar Society, Córdoba Guitar Society, Segovia Classical Guitar Series, New Orleans International Guitar Festival, and Guitar Sarasota. Following his 2026 Sarasota performance, the organization's president described it as “one of the most successful concerts that we have ever had,” praising Tran for presenting the classical guitar “in a new and involving way” and giving the instrument “a new voice.”
His artistry has been featured on Performance Today, Classical Guitar Alive!, the Tonebase Podcast, Vietnam Airlines’ Heritage Magazine, and Vietnam Television (VTV). Early in his career, Tran earned top prizes in more than a dozen international guitar competitions, including the Berlin International Guitar Competition and Hamilton International Guitar Competition. Acoustic Guitar Magazine subsequently named him one of its “10 Rising Stars of Classical Guitar.”
Born and raised in Vietnam, Tran began his musical training in his homeland before continuing his education in the United States. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from North Park University, where he later received the Distinguished Young Alumni Award. He completed his Master of Music degree at Yale University, studying with Benjamin Verdery, and earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree with Program Honors from Northwestern University under the guidance of Anne Waller.
In addition to his performing and recording career, Tran is a dedicated educator and advocate for artistic exchange and accessibility. He serves as a professor of guitar at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts and also teaches at the University of Illinois Chicago and Northern Illinois University, where he founded the International Guitar Concert Series.
In 2024, he established An Tran’s International Guitar Workshop, an annual ten-day summer program in Vietnam that brings together aspiring guitarists and internationally acclaimed artists for intensive study, performance, and cultural exchange. He also serves on the board of the Chicago Classical Guitar Society and is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Chicago Artopia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding access to the arts for underserved communities on Chicago’s Southwest Side.
An Tran performs on guitars by Stephan Connor and is a D’Addario Artist.
UPCOMING
2/7/2026 The Columbus Guitar Society Bexley OH
3/7/2026 Cleveland Classical Guitar Society Cleveland OH
3/15/2026 The University of Texas San Antonio TX
3/21/2026 St. Louis Classical Guitar St. Louis MO
4/11/2026 Guitar Sarasota Sarasota FL
4/19/2026 Historical Society Winchendon MA
6/15/2026 Gulf Coast Guitar Association Houston TX
10/2/2026 Rochester Symphony Detroit MI
10/4/2026 Shenandoah University Winchester VA
11/10/2026 Bellaire High School Bellaire, TX
3/5/2027 University of Wisconsin Milwaukee