Visiting Artist: An Tran, Classical Guitar

Classical guitarist An Tran will perform and discuss a program of new compositions and arrangements of traditional Vietnamese music. 

Praised by the Boston Globe for his “subtle, graceful virtuosity” and by Soundboard magazine for an “exquisite sense of space, touch, and mood,” guitarist An Tran approaches performance with purpose, guided by a belief in music as a shared human experience.

A Vietnamese guitarist based in the US, Tran’s work reflects a long-standing desire to serve as a bridge between cultures and traditions. From his debut recording to his most recent projects, he has focused on bringing Vietnamese music into contemporary classical contexts while collaborating closely with living composers from around the world. These collaborations have often resulted in works written specifically for him, inspired by people and places central to his life and shaped with an understanding of his technical range and expressive voice.

Tran is a guitar professor at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts, and also teaches at the University of Illinois Chicago and Northern Illinois University. In 2024, he founded An Tran’s International Guitar Workshop, an annual ten-day summer program in Vietnam. He is co-founder and artistic director of Chicago Artopia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making the arts accessible to underserved communities on Chicago’s Southwest side. 

Tran performs on guitars by Stephan Connor and is a D’Addario Artist.