Dr. Hoang Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American concert pianist, jazz musician, and music educator based in Orange County, California. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Claremont Graduate University, where he studied under Dr. Grace Fong and Dr. Stewart Gordon. Since 2013, Dr. Nguyen has been a faculty member at Santa Ana College, teaching applied music, class piano, and keyboard harmonization. He is frequently invited as a guest lecturer for piano workshops and graduate seminars at California State University, Fullerton and serves as an adjudicator for MTAC Theme Festivals, Cal State Fullerton Concerto Competition, IAPMT, and Satori Summer Piano Competitions. In addition to his collegiate teaching, he oversees two thriving private studios in Anaheim Hills and Garden Grove, mentoring hundreds of students.
Dr. Nguyen has performed internationally at renowned venues such as Cité des Arts in Paris, Basilica de St. Pedro in Perugia, Hanoi Opera House, and Musco Performing Arts Center. His chamber music engagements have taken him to the Brown Foundation Performing Arts Center in Houston, Chopin High School of the Arts in Bytom, Lausanne University, and Bangkok’s Goethe Institute. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras including the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, Perugia Il Solisti Orchestra, CSUF Symphony Orchestra, Fullerton College Symphony Orchestra, Vietnamese-American Philharmonic, and Rio Hondo Symphony Orchestra. A passionate advocate for chamber music and two-piano repertoire, he has collaborated with esteemed artists such as violinist Eliot Lawson, cellist Eru Matsumoto, soprano Sangeeta Kaur, and pianists Eduardo Delgado, Jungwon Jin, and Ning An.
Born in Hanoi, Vietnam, Dr. Nguyen began his musical training at the Vietnam National Academy of Music, where he won second prize at the Autumn National Competition and made his orchestral debut at age 13, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, K. 488 with the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra. He continued his studies at the Conservatory of Versailles, France with Professor Désiré N’Kaoua, then at the Conservatory of Paris (CRR de Paris) under Professor Olivier Gardon. After earning a Premier Prix in Paris, he received the Dean’s Scholarship to study at Indiana University, Bloomington with Professor Evelyne Brancart. He later completed his Master’s Degree at California State University, Fullerton, where he was a recipient of the Alicia de Larrocha Scholarship and served as teaching assistant to Professor Eduardo Delgado until his retirement. He also received coaching from Chopin Competition winner Dang Thai Son and participated in masterclasses with Menahem Pressler and Gary Graffman. Dr. Nguyen was the Grand Prize Winner of the California State University, Fullerton Concerto Competition and a finalist in the Franz Liszt Los Angeles International Competition.
In addition to his classical career, Dr. Nguyen is an accomplished jazz pianist, having studied improvisation with Grammy Award-winning pianist Bill Cunliffe. He has performed in jazz clubs across Southern California and has been featured in interviews on Vietnamese national and international media, including VTV1, VTV6, SBTN, Saigon TV, and Vietface TV.
Dr. Nguyen is a founding member and core musician of VASCAM (Vietnamese American Society for Creative Arts and Music), an organization dedicated to promoting Vietnamese Art Music.
