Two Vietnamese artists nominated for Grammy Awards

Vietnamese-American singer Sangeeta Kaur, whose real name is Mai Xuan Loan, and director Bao Nguyen have been nominated for Grammy Awards this year.

On the list announced by the Recording Academy of America on November 8, Sangeeta Kaur was nominated for a Best Classical Compendium award with her album Mythologies II.

The singer and her collaborator, Israeli singer Hilá Plitmann, previously won a Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album for the first Mythologies album in 2022.

This time around, Kaur was named on the list of nominees along with collaborators Plitmann, Omar Najmi, Robert Thies and Danaë Xanthe Vlasse, among others. Results will be announced at the awards ceremony set to take place in Los Angeles on February 2, 2025.

Kaur was thrilled to hear that she had received another Grammy nomination, the result of 10 years of hard work on a song written by composer Danaë Vlasse for her and vocalist Hilá Plitmann.

“Thank you so so much to all of the Grammy academy members who voted for Mythologies II! We are truly overjoyed by this nomination. So many hearts, so many tears of joy and challenges and so much devotion went into this album,” she wrote on her Facebook.

“I feel privileged and grateful to be on this creative path in this lifetime. What a gift! I am especially grateful to do this alongside my best friends.”

Mythologies II is inspired by Greek myths. The album is performed by two sopranos, Kaur and Plitmann, along with tenor Omar Najmi and accompanied by virtuoso pianist Robert Thies. It was recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, the UK and mixed at Kaur's studio in Austin, Texas, the US.

She was born in 1980 in Montclair, California. Her birth name is Mai Xuan Loan, and she is also known as Teresa Mai, starting her singing career using both names. Later, her yoga teacher, captivated by her voice, named her "Sangeeta" in ancient Indian, meaning "queen of sound and melody". Later, she took the stage name Sangeeta Kaur to continue pursuing her artistic path.

In addition to singing, she is also a famous yoga teacher, and won first prize in a beauty contest for the Vietnamese community in the US in 2011.

Sangeeta received her bachelor of music degree in opera performance from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University and her master of music degree in vocal performance from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

To date, the Vietnamese-American singer has released several critically acclaimed albums such as Niguma, Ascension, Mirrors, Compassion and Illuminance. Sangeeta's work spans many genres such as classical, contemporary and spiritual.

Director Bao Nguyen is nominated in the Best Music Film category of Grammy 2025 for his documentary The Greatest Night in Pop. (Photo courtesy of the artist)

Another Vietnamese artist, director Bao Nguyen, has been nominated for a Grammy in the Best Music Film category for his documentary The Greatest Night in Pop.

Including never-before-seen footage, the film follows Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson as they compose We Are the World, a hit song released in March 1985. One highlight is a moment when dozens of big names in the music industry gathered in a studio in Los Angeles to record the song to support famine relief in Africa.

The Greatest Night in Pop received three 2024 Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Documentary, Outstanding Directing for a Documentary, and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction Series. The film received positive reviews from critics, achieving a 98 per cent "fresh" score on Rotten Tomatoes.

“Naturally, it leads one to wonder if something like We Are the World could be pulled off today (and don't you dare mention that Imagine abomination). There is a sense that what happened in that studio in 1985 was singular and special. Was it the greatest night? I don't know. But this film will convince you it was a special one,” commented Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com Brian Tallerico.

Bao said the idea for the film came to him during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people around the world were suffering loss. The situation made the filmmaker think of We Are the World, a song that audiences tend to search for during crises, be they natural disasters, epidemics or racism.

Bao, born in 1983, holds a BA in International Relations from New York University and an MA in Documentary Film from The School of Visual Arts, New York. His documentary Once in a Lullaby premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2012, and Live from New York! was selected to open the festival three years later.

Before The Greatest Night in Pop, his project about Bruce Lee - Be Water (2020) - was nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy in 2021.

Meanwhile Vietnamese artist and designer Duy Đào has been invited to join the Recording Academy as part of the new member class of 2024. As a member, Duy will officially have the right to vote in this year's awards season.

Duy graduated from the Art Centre College of Design in California, one of the 10 best design schools in the world. He has received many major design awards from the American Association of Art. Some of his designs are displayed at the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in New York.

His design for the Ngot Band’s album, Gieo, was nominated in the category of Best Boxset or Special Limited Edition Package at the 2024 Grammy Awards./.

VNA