Decca Australia inks classical crossover pianist Van-Anh Nguyen

Decca Australia/ Universal Music Australia have signed Vietnamese/Australian classical crossover pianist Van-Anh Nguyen.

She divides her time between Sydney and Los Angeles, and tours internationally.

Her debut album Pop Alchemy, a mix of classical and pop music mash-ups, is set for a January 2019 release.

It is preceded by new single, an arrangement of the late Italian record producer Robert Miles’ mid-1990s instrumental hit Children.

The original reached #1 in over 12 countries and peaked at #5 in Australia. It remains a much-sampled track.

Van-Anh says: “When Robert Miles passed away in May 2017, I felt like we had lost a real icon in the world of house music.

“He was an artist I had grown up listening to – in particular his track Children.  

“The melody itself is fairly simple so there was a lot of room to develop and spin it.

“With all my arrangements, I try to stay true to the original but add my classical virtuosic twist to it, bringing lush sweeping harmonies and runs – which you will hear in the development and climax of this song.”

Born in Sydney in 1987 to Vietnamese refugee parents who were professional musicians, Nguyen began piano lessons at 15 months

At four she had been accepted into the Young Artists Program for gifted musicians at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

During this time she took out a number of awards and prizes, including the Kawai Piano award (Australia) and the audience prize in the 13th Sommerklavierfest, Bad-Bertrich (Germany) and won the 2011 Excellence in Youth award for arts & culture, NSW.