Photograph by Turner McCabe (2024)
About
Vicki Leona Nguyen (b.1997 | she/her) is a NYC-based Vietnamese-American composer and multi-media artist. Her work explores the psycho-social - or rather the intangible relationships - between all of us, both within and outside of the bounds of music. Her current works and musical interests question the barriers of accessibility within performance and expand the definitions of what it means to listen vs. participate in music, with pieces ranging from classical notation to abstracted visual art to step-by-step written instructions. She also explores the complicated nature of language, a theme strongly influenced by her upbringing in a strict ‘mother-tongue’ household, through the use of field recordings in common social areas, manipulated speech and text, and fun linguistic quirks. Her aesthetics are deeply tied to her practice as a percussionist; extended techniques, sporadic interruptions, polyrhythmic layering, and maximalist textures can all be commonly heard in her repertoire.
A Tennessee native, Vicki received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in Music Composition while also completing her pre-medicine studies. She earned her Master of Music Composition at New York University studying with Julia Wolfe, Robert Honstein, Molly Joyce, Shelley Washington, and Michael Gordon.
Outside of composition, Vicki loves photography, creating visual art, and feeding her loved ones the best food straight out of her Michelin-grade palms.