"A performance of surpassing keyboard artistry and passion"
American Record Guide

The British-Vietnamese pianist Tra Nguyen has been hailed as an artist whose readings are “deeply thoughtful” and who holds the capacity to captivate the audience with her "impressive  combination of power and poetry". Her recent orchestral recording debut of Joachim Raff's Suite for Piano and Orchestra has been received with superlative reviews and was chosen as Album of the Week by The Independent, March 2010.

Tra has performed live for Hong Kong Radio Four and at the Shostakovich Centenary Festival at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. Her 2008 concerto debut in Japan at the Tokyo City Opera Concert Hall was met with great enthusiasm from the sold-out audience. Tra's recent engagements   include premiere performances of Leo Ornstein’s works at the Kennedy Center (PAFE series) and concerto performances with Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra. Her concerto performances with leading Vietnamese orchestras are frequently broadcast on Vietnam National Television.

Tra's imaginative programming balances the core repertoire and lesser-known compositions. She has developed an eclectic repertoire of solo, chamber music and concerti, spreading from early keyboard works to works of living composers.

Her interests in exploring neglected music have also led her to work with Sterling Records to produce premiere recordings of music for piano and orchestra by Joachim Raff, in collaboration with distinguished conductors like Roland Kluttig and Andrea Quinn. Her chamber music CD with clarinettist Sabine Grofmeier released on ClassicClips was highly praised by the press, including Klassik Heute. Their second album will be released by ARS Produktion.

Tra made her first solo performance at the Hanoi Grand Opera House when she was ten and shortly thereafter gave her first concerto performance with the Hanoi Conservatoire Orchestra, performing the Mozart concerto KV 488. In 1987, chosen by representatives from the Moscow Conservatoire, Tra furthered her studies at the Moscow Gnessin Music College and later at the Moscow Conservatoire with professor Lev Naumov. She then moved to London in 1997 for post-graduate studies with professor Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy of Music where she received the Academy's highest award for her final recital. Tra also received coaching and musical inspiration from distinguished musicians including Arnaldo Cohen, Hamish Milne and Andrew Zolinsky.

Tra was awarded the First Prize at the International Brant Piano Competition in 2001 and was chosen as one of "Ten most influential Youths of Vietnam" in 2002. Tra now lives in London, spending her free time painting and writing short stories and poems.