Dang Thai Son (actually, Son Thai Dang)
Dang Thai Son (actually, Son Thai Dang)
Dang Thai Son (actually, Son Thai Dang) ,
Vietnamese pianist; b. Hanoi, July 2, 1958. He began piano lessons at age 5 with his mother, a piano teacher at the Hanoi Cons., where he became a student in 1965. His studies were interrupted by the American bombing campaign during the Vietnam War, and he and his mother fled to the village of Xuan Phu, where he continued his training. After the War, he took his degree at the Hanoi Cons. (1976). He then went to Moscow to pursue his studies at the Cons, with Natanson, graduating in 1983; subsequently completed his training with Bashkirov (1983–86). In 1980 he won first prize in the Chopin Competition in Warsaw in the wake of the controversial decision by the jury to eliminate his fellow competitor Ivo Pogorelich in the final round. Dang’s victory was significant, since with it he became the first Asian pianist to win first prize in such a prestigious competition. In 1981 he made his debut in Paris, followed by debuts in London in 1984 and in Berlin in 1985. In 1989 he made his U.S. debut in a recital at N.Y/s 92nd Street Y. In 1991 he settled in Canada while continuing to pursue an international career. His repertoire ranges from Haydn to Prokofiev.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire