This past Saturday, January 30th, with the support of the Steans Family Foundation, Turning the Page Chicago
families from all four of partner schools went to see the Kronos Quartet perform at the Harris Theater. After a pizza party hosted by the theater, families met Vân-Ánh Võ, an award-winning performer of Vietnamese traditional instruments. Võ began her presentation by talking to families about the meaning of friendship and how, at times, it can be very intimidating or scary to start new friendships, but always worth it. During her presentation, Võ played a traditional Vietnamese friendship song on the dan t’rung, a bamboo xylophone, and allowed students one-by-one to play the handcrafted Vietnamese instrument that she had designed herself! Võ also introduced families to the monochord called a bau, and demonstrated how the instrument worked.
After visiting with Võ, families then enjoyed a show by the Grammy-winner Kronos Quartet and traveled “Around the World” through a collection of music from India, Syria, Vietnam, Ireland, China, and Mali.
Written By: Rosondunnii Marshall Spirinneliphank .