Meritorious Artist Lan Anh, 49, is busy with her doctoral thesis and is proud to have a son who studies well.

- Returning to the National Concert "What Remains Forever" after nearly 10 years, what are your feelings?

I am glad that this is a very good and meaningful program. Thanks to the pioneering of What Remains Forever 16 years ago, we have had more and more concerts since then.

This time back, I was assigned the song Song in Pac Bo Forest - a familiar piece I have performed many times.

How is your work?

I was quite busy performing, recording, teaching, especially after a season of final exams, graduation and admission to the Vietnam National Academy of Music; and working on my doctoral thesis. July - September is also a time of many celebrations, and we singers all receive many invitations to perform.

- How is your thesis?

I started in 2023 and am trying to finish it before September to defend it next year. I believe that my topic is useful and contributes to music .

- When your career as a singer and lecturer is stable, do you still have any goals in music or have you moved to another field?

I have had a burning passion for singing since I was a child and I still do. I have to sing, otherwise I would be sad!

I still record, release products, still strive and move forward. I have a studio at home so I can record whenever I want.

I am very small. When I was doing my PhD thesis, I felt like a grain of sand, extremely small in front of the vast ocean of knowledge. I listened to all genres from pop, ballad to jazz, as long as the music was good. I had to listen to learn and know how my friends are doing now.

There are many things to learn from social media, not just TikTok. I often watch short videos from lecturers and learn a lot of interesting things.

Aria "Je veux vivre" from the play "Roméo et Juliette" performed by singer Lan Anh

Singing for decades and doing so many jobs, aren't you bored with the profession?

Never! There are songs I don't remember how many times I've sung in my career like Song of Hope, Song of Offering to Uncle Ho ... but I still find them good, I still like them very much.

What I'm worried about is that I haven't had the chance to sing opera with an orchestra for many years. Maybe because I don't belong to any theater, maybe the classical scene in Vietnam is not very vibrant; or maybe the future students are just too good.

I haven't sung opera for a long time, so if I practice now, I'll be a bit... lazy. (laughs) Classical music is a field where if I don't sing for a few months, my performance will decline, not to mention the problem of forgetting lyrics because there are arias that are more than 20 pages long. Practicing new songs is even harder, it takes months. When I did live concerts, I had to take half a year off from teaching to practice.

I am currently teaching and performing, so my schedule is quite tight. On the other hand, I want to practice but there is no stage because people have forgotten about Lan Anh and invite me to perform less. So I am a bit neglectful of opera. But if I have to participate in a program, I will still practice well.

- Many years ago, the press associated you with the title "Number 1 Opera Voice", but now you are a different singer. Do you care?

Actually, from that moment on, I was very shy! I was just one of the outstanding people at that time, I didn't dare to accept the number 1 title. The next generation is very good, the press likes whoever they give that title, it's normal.

- For example...

Dao To Loan, she studied in the year after me. When Loan took her graduation exam, I was a judge, I sat there and listened in amazement, I had to give her a perfect 10. Loan was good in both technique and performance. In Ho Chi Minh City, Khanh Ngoc is also very good, with a beautiful and flexible voice. I respect both of them very much.

In the previous generation, I was impressed by Ms. Ha Pham Thang Long - a lyric soprano with a rich voice. She has a very Western timbre, a thick voice, and a loud volume, which is quite rare in Vietnam. It's just that later, she focused more on teaching.

Among my students, Bui Huyen Trang also got a perfect score of 10 in her graduation exam. She is a coloratura soprano with the ability to express all the nuances in a piece. In the next generation, I also highly appreciate Bao Yen and Lan Quynh.

- Recently, singer Phuong My Chi also caused a stir when she sang the Fa note in the 6th octave, what do you think?

It's good that she can transition from "folk singer" to other genres. However, her high notes can still be improved.

If talking about young singers with strong, solid high notes, I like Myra Tran. She has a beautiful voice, can mix her voice very high, I believe if she wants to develop her falsetto voice it won't be difficult.

- The topic of high notes seems to never go out of fashion on social media. That's why there are singers who flaunt their high notes regardless of the media's story. You yourself have experienced a rare case of a singer "stealing" a high note. As a singer famous for high notes, how do you understand its value?

Not every song needs to be sung high to be good. High notes are valuable when placed in the right place as drifting passages, pushing the listener's emotions, making them admire and silently enjoy. Many songs are not high, but just one high note at the right time can make the whole song worth it.

On the contrary, if you keep singing high notes, you will sound whiny and unattractive. Some songs, if you try to sing high notes to show off, are easily out of sync.

Singing high notes in Vietnamese is very difficult. For example, the sentence "The Resistance is determined to succeed" (Lên Ngàn, Hoàng Việt) is all closed notes, so singing it with the right pitch and clear words is not easy. My thesis is also researching this topic.

- How is your daily life?

My life is regular and unpredictable. I wake up at 4am to prepare for a 7:30am show but can sleep in until 10pm if I don’t have work. Teaching is also flexible, sometimes I teach at home; if I’m busy I can make up for it on the weekend.

Two habits I still keep to this day are drinking coffee in the morning and eating lunch at home.

In the evenings, if I don’t have a show, I stay home reading, writing my thesis or having coffee with friends. I sleep quite late, around 1-2am. Women, even when they come home late from a show, still have to do random things like applying cream, surfing social media…

I like to stay at home, and sing loudly to the whole family when I do housework or take a bath, except at noon. There is a neighbor behind my house who is very difficult, I don’t understand why he still listens to me singing. Once when the students came to my house to play, he even warned them. (laughs)

"Continuing the story of peace" - Lan Anh

- How do you keep your voice?

I hardly drink ice water. As for alcohol, I might have a little at a party but absolutely nothing for a few days before a show.

Teaching also allows me to practice singing every day, maintaining my form. Other than that, I hardly have any restrictions.

I focus on staying healthy. Simply put, at 80, if you can't even breathe, how can you sing?

- Does your 19-year-old son still want to pursue art like he did when he was a child?

He still loves art and is studying piano and vocals with Mr. Dao Mac. Despite his talent, he chose to study Professional Communication - one of the most difficult majors at RMIT University HCMC. I support him in whatever direction he chooses.

I video call my child every day. Your study pressure is huge, often staying up all night to do homework until 10am the next morning to meet the deadline. Submitting an assignment 1 hour late will cost you 10% of your score.

Last time I went to HCMC, I also saw my friend studying all day but still staying up at night, eating late, and couldn't be reminded. Are young people under this kind of pressure nowadays?

He also often surprises me, like he got an 8.0 on the IELTS test without any practice sessions. That alone makes me happy, saying to myself: "Wow, my child is really good, huh?".

- Are you happy?

Life can't always be perfect as we want it to be. There will be disappointments and sadness along with happiness. Especially for us artists, we are sensitive and tend to think a lot.

I accept all the joys and sorrows in life and know how to be satisfied with what I have. I am still living well with my passion for music and have a sensible son who always makes me proud.