I'm thinking 
we could piggy-back the following Gala, to do an open-mic, that way we don't have to organize so much? Please check this out.
http://www.vietnamdreamforsuccess.org/
They happen to do a:
2007 Annual Lavang Gala
7:00 pm Friday, November 30th, 2007:
Fortune Seafood Restaurant
6249 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church, VA 22044
(703) 538-3333 Tickets are on sale! $35.00
Cecilia Nguyen ceciliantt@yahoo.com
Could be a "golden opportunity" haha 
to play music for a good cause!
-------
By chance I invited Sis. Cecilia over for dinner, the day before she had arranged for us to go on a Official Business Tour to the US Capitol. I'm ashamed to say, 30+ years living in the States, I haven't even set foot in the US Capitol! She gave us a tour and told me all these things she did and I was amazed (one of which was standing up at the same podium as President Bush, where he adressed the Nation, at the House of Representatives in the US Capitol, to give a prayer!)
So I talked w/ her a little...A petite, young person with a vibrant, fascinating personality, she later told me she's the founder of Vietnam Dream For Success, which goals are to focus on education for poor children, all denominations and background. You can read more on her page.
She only recently moved here from Houston, just 2 months, she doesn't know a whole lot of people. I asked her if she had made any commitment about the "music show" and she said someone recommended Karaoke, and she could pay a few hundred dollars to hire him. I asked how she would feel if I bring my "gang" over, that would save her some, and she was totally surprised. She had no idea I have a gang of musicians who's willing to not only play for fun, but for good causes. So her face lit up, and asked if we could play both Viet AND English songs? Since there would be Americans. I said yes of course, she asked if we could sing music about our homeland (not sappy sad, depressing love songs) and I said, yes of course, we're cool! 
I've already committed myself, my sis, and my bro Hai. 
What can I say, I have a big heart and I love to play music!
QH
----
We have:
- c.MN (co' anh Tri' khong)? Neu co' anh Tri' thi se rat nhon!!
- a. Hai
- Huan
- PH
- QH
- QT
- Dam
- c PThao
- Son
- Vinh
What can I say, I have a big heart and I love to play music!
ReplyDeletetledc:
sounds like good fun...and all for a good cause..good on you...:)
Hi Dew - I can't run marathons and do Century rides to raise money like my brother Hai...but I can play music ALL DAY LONG! hihi I don't care if I'm doing this for chu`a or nha` tho*` or whoever...as long as it's from someone trustworthy, and I know the money reaches the children.
ReplyDeleteOK, buddy, color me "excited!"
ReplyDeleteI am in!
(BTW, we need to sit down with sister--real real soon--to talk about logistics; such as sound systems, songs, rehearsal times, etc. It's approaching Holiday season and you know what a crazy time that is. From what I hear, this is not as simple as showing up and playing music.)
Sound systems would be the thing that I don't know much about. Someone said the restaurant is already equipped w/ speakers, we would bring mixer and more mics and hook up w/ theirs.
ReplyDeleteProgram wise, I don't see why we can't do what we did for QV?? They were expecting karaoke, we're giving them live music. lol I'm thinking it would only be 1-2 hours for us, since the whole dinner thing is 3 1/2 hours, with raffles etc. So we could have a main section, and an open-open mic, where anyone can go up and sing.
The thing is on a Friday though, so how many of us can go on a Friday??
Btw, Mom thinks Anh Ti'n's "Ha't Nua Di Huong" song would be appropriate for this. QT will try to sing Ti`nh Hoa`i Huong, and a guest already signed up to sing Chu`a Huong. :)
ReplyDeleteAnother thing, if we do want to play, everyone needs to let me know ASAP b/c I have to let her know whether we have enough musicians/singers to cover 1, 2 hours (I frankly don't think it's going to be that long).
ReplyDeleteBefore asking people to commit, you might want to make sure that we have a sound system. What we have @ QVNV is very patchwork and for a very small environment, perhaps not very suitable for a large hall like Fortune.
ReplyDeleteFirst order of business, I think, is for all of us to sit down and take inventory of what we have and can do. Then, let's find out exactly what Fortune does/does not have.
I will swing by Fortune before/after MN's session tomorrow (or during next week) to talk to them about what they have.
Good idea anh Hai. :) Please post your findings.
ReplyDeleteI have an SUV and I can drive like the wind!!! Will be glad to run around and pick up equipments to bring to this event, if we end up doing it. Pls sign me up for this gig! :-)
ReplyDeleteLove your spirit!! :) Thank you Huan! I worry about you driving like the wind though. ;o)
ReplyDeletetledc:
ReplyDelete:) just need to be organised..and everything will turn out fine..hhehehe..
----------
ReplyDeleteCho tôi bước lại con đường làng
Ngày đầu cắp sách đến trường
Bên tai tiếng cười tiếng nói lạ
Dịu dàng mùi thơm giấy mới
Cho tôi hát lại câu hát đầu
như thuở mẹ ru rất yêu
Tay tôi xếp hoài con diều nhỏ
để ước mơ vào mây cao
Cho tôi giữ lại khung trời mộng
chiều về đuổi bướm trên đồng
Nâng niu hát đùa với dế nhỏ
Trãi mình nằm trên cỏ ấm
Cho tôi đứng chờ em cuối đường
Lá đổ lòng nghe vấn vương
Thơ tôi viết hoài cho tình mộng
để hát cho người yêu nhau
Cho tôi lại từ đầu
Cho tôi lại từ đầu
để được khóc được thương được nhớ
Cho tôi lòng thật thà
Trên môi đời nghiệt ngã
Để hương xưa nhỏ xuống tình già
Cho tôi nói lại tiếng tình đầu
Một chiều em đứng bên cầu
che nghiêng nón cười như dấu mộng
Thẹn thùng nụ hoa mới hé
cho tôi nhớ lại hương tóc mềm
Gió chiều thả hương ấm vai
Đêm mơ thấy tình đi nhè nhẹ
mà nhớ em ngày xa xăm
------
Hmmm....how about this one??
Hi everyone:
ReplyDeletePlease count me in...no matter what I will be there with your all , I have some music equipment ( Speaker, Mic, ..V..V ) Please let me known if you needs these music equipment. Thanks
Perfect! :) :) I like this song very much! Now reading the words, so meaningful.
ReplyDeleteHere I am always talking about playing music! :) :) I do think this is a great cause though, providing boarding house and education for young girls. I did another one a while back, to prevent human trafficking, same thing, young poor Viet girls and children from VN were made slaves, bid and sold on Ebay even. Made me sad and sick, thinking of my own kids! I was able to rally up a bunch of friends from my company to help out. I'm not much of an organizer but usually someone I meet along the way would have a big heart AND loves to organize! haha It seems to always work out in the end. :)
Love your spirit PH!! :) Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteQue Huong oi,
ReplyDeleteSister Cecilia se rat vui khi biet PT se cung voi QH va cac ban se tham gia 2007 Lavang Gala . Cach day 2 nam PT co den giup sister chut chut trong viec ban ve cho buoi gay quy cung tai nha hang nay va sau do sister moved ve Texas.
Anh Hai, will you be able to check out Fortune's sound system soon and let us know? I talked to sister, she said no problem non-professional singing, people will understand. She thought it would be very wasteful to hire professional singers. I told her we sound better! :)
ReplyDeleteShe wrote me and Huan an email yesterday, she's doing everything from printing tickets to selling tickets, by herself, so she's very grateful to have any help.
Just did! Will share results tonight.
ReplyDeleteThe restaurant has nothing, except speakers already mounted on walls.
ReplyDeleteWe have to have a complete *stage* sound system for the performance; i.e., amps for the main mixing board; individual amps for instruments; stage monitors; etc. Even if we go strictly acoustic, the minimum are the stage monitors (else, we can't hear ourselves).
Whatever sound system we use will plug into the outlet shown above.
Stage has 2 main monitors (see above).
Spread throughout the restaurant are the wall speakers shown above. The restaurant has an "L" shape; the speakers are placed pretty strategically (I think! I'm no sound engineer); if our equipment can plug into their speaker system, I think we'd do OK.
My recommendation, assuming we go acoustic:
Main mixing board, with at least 16 inputs (to acommodate mikes and instruments);Amp for mixing board; Stage monitors.Having said that, I suggest we rent equipment and a sound engineer. Why? S/he is a sound expert, the equipment is adequate for a large hall, it's his/her equipment, and we don't have to worry about putting together a sound system ourselves. It may cost a bit, but I think--in the end--it's more economical.
Thanks a. Hai for checking out. We could:
ReplyDelete- ask Dan to see how much he can rent himself & his system?? No karaoke, just us playing.
- have TK's karaoke AND us playing.
Well...I think it’s time for me to step up using my expertly.
ReplyDeleteI think we should pay someone to take care the sound system. Because our music equipment not good enough for this Event.
This is the first time we come out to play music in public; we will have a lot of things to worry. For the future benefit we needs to protect our quan van group reputation and our images. If we play good people will remember us and will call us next time...if we play bad we will heard a lot of complain and people don’t trust us for the next time. We will learn how to take cares the sound system later.
For now we have concentrate 100% on music program, because this is the first time our group play in public we have to success …we can’t afford to Fail.
If we’re the one who make the call on the music program, we should have good music program (Dancing and listen music) for the entire night. If we all commit together I do believe our group can handle this task.
We should not allow open mike because open mike is a dangerous game to play in public. I think our music group not strong enough and not ready play open mike for public. We should get together practice and create good music program for entire night including the Dancing time.
Why I think our group can handle this task, because we only needs about 3 or 4 singers to cover the entire music program including the Dancing.
We have anh So+n play drum, anh Ha?i play Bass and chi. Que^’ Hu+ong play Keyboard (Leading ) and at least 3 singer.
I have seen one man band play music entire night and his music skill was terrible...I mean his music skill was very bad, but he still have gut come out play music for big event by himself.
Our music group will have a least 7 person commit to this music program therefore I do believe we will success.
Don’t worry be happy….hi hi hi hi
I'm assuming we're NOT playing under "QVNV" name (if we play). Otherwise, we would have to change QVNV's "Constitution" !
ReplyDelete... and I think we'll just do "Va(n Nghe^." only, not dancing !
:---o
Thanks for mentioning it, Sơn: we are not playing under the "QVNV" banner. In fact, I'd prefer that QVNV is kept out of this altogether. This is not a QVNV event.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there's dancing involved, but, no, we are not playing for dancing (simply because we don't have a "dancing" repertoire!)
My man PH hits that nail on the head! :o)
ReplyDeleteMy thinking is:
The economics of renting equipment/sound engineer is more than monetary: it saves us an extra headache, so we can focus on the music;We limit ourselves to--and concentrate on--an hour of "chamber"-type music;The organizers can opt for karaoke/open-mike, etc.; that's their choice. It's otherwise out of our scope;The equipment needs to accommodate acoustic/chamber, not the "rầm rầm" type of music;As of now, the commitments we have are for a piano, drum, bass, and vocals: we therefore should tailor our selection of music to those instruments. And, we should start with what we already know or have played before (we have less than a month!).I am not being a contrarian: just want to make sure that we can put together a credible and enjoyable hour of music for a paying audience. If they enjoy the music, and we enjoy playing said music without the extraneous headaches, then we will have done the right thing.
Just want to let ya'all know that I'm not ignoring my friends here. I've heard you all and am very touched with your big hearts and eagerness. I just want to make sure before I say "yes, I'm in" bc this is a serious one when it comes to anything related to $ and I really am not sure if I'm good enough to "sing for money", even if the $ go to charity.
ReplyDeleteI used to think the same, that's why I'm hesitant to play for money, $5 or $50, all scary to me.
ReplyDeleteThat said...
The same audience would go to a bunch of these fund raisers, most of them middle age, and most of these fund raisers have bands, young sparkly singers singing same songs. Then they went to ones that we (our singing group) sang and they were so appreciative of us because ours were different! We sang old songs, Viet, French, English. They didn't want to leave, esp. the older crowds. They stayed and clapped and asked for us to sing more. When we left, people stopped in the parking lot and sang to us, told us how much good memories we brought back for them, and told us how much they love the program.
Most of our singers are better than most prof singers, we just don't pursue that route. Some of our singers sang side by side w/ Kha'nh Ha`, Vu~ Khanh, Tran Thu Ha just to name a few. Even though we're not professionals, we are good musicians, we deliver quality music, and the audience can tell.
MN à,
ReplyDeleteIMHO, I firmly believe we can put together a hour's worth of quality music. No doubts in my mind about that!
I just don't want us to have to worry about sound, set-ups, organization, etc., so we can concentrate strictly on music. We can show up, do a quick sound-check, then off we play. We can't afford to be stressed out about the other stuff. Stressed-out musicians just don't make good music.
In fact, let's not even worry about the "sing for money" part: instead, let's concentrate on good music. If we produce good music, the "money" part becomes irrelevant.
I agree. I don't like headaches.
ReplyDelete- I think the easiest is to get sound sys for karaoke, and we piggy back. That way we have both sound sys and karaoke, for people who want to go up and sing. We don't have to worry about playing for them. Plus people intended to come see Karaoke...they don't expect professionals. :)
- If we rent our own, we have to worry about covering the whole program. Too much stress given the time and resources.
- We can ask for one hour of us playing without talks in between.
- I think we have enough good materials to cover one hour.
Since there's a possibility that the organizers might want Karaoke, let's go with TK.
ReplyDeleteWe will need to work with him, so we get the sound we want for our gig. As to the rest, it's his concern: we won't be involved in the karaoke/open-mike part.
THANK YOU everyone for contributing thoughts and concerns. I'm ever so blessed w/ friends like us. :)
ReplyDeleteHuan made flyers yesterday! :) He'll help w/ the ad stuff. If you need help Huan, please holler.
I'll respond to sister. We'll focus on the music program. I don't know about you but I'm excited! LOL
Hi Hua^n:
ReplyDeleteCan you send me one copy when you done with the Flyers. I will print out about 200 copy ( Black and white color ) and I will post the flyers around the Eden Center. you can send the flyers copy to my email address ...haiau14@hotmail.com. ..Thanks
" """" - I think the easiest is to get sound sys for karaoke, and we piggy back. That way we have both sound sys and karaoke, for people who want to go up and sing. We don't have to worry about playing for them. Plus people intended to come see Karaoke...they don't expect professionals. :)
ReplyDelete- If we rent our own, we have to worry about covering the whole program. Too much stress given the time and resources.
- We can ask for one hour of us playing without talks in between.
- I think we have enough good materials to cover one hour. """"""
============================
Yes..I think this is good solution for us. Because we don't have to worry much for music Equipment and open mike and we have more time for our music program.
Thanks P Hai for taking care of the Eden Center side...a funny thing happened on my way to St. Ambrose Catholic church tonight. I was there to drop off some flyers to Sister Cecilia for her to post at her church. Well, I stopped by unannounced so she wasn't there to take the package. But get this, a Priest saw me came in and he immediately said..."You're a candidate right?" .....I hesitated for a bit then said..."Uhhmmm...no, I am just here to drop off some flyers for Sister Cecilia"....he seemed a bit disappointed then took the package for me and then we bid goodbye.
ReplyDeleteThis really made me think for a bit....that I was mistaken for a candidate...so cool so cool...I had no idea I looked that "dao. mao." tonight..ehhehe..hehehe...just a few months back, when I was at a hotel where a big musical event was going on, a hotel staff asked me if I was one of the dancers!!! I said no and then she said..."dang...you look like one..." heheheh...
Huan
What will you be singing for the upcoming QVNV? "Vì tôi là linh mục?" [khịt khịt]
ReplyDeletenah ... I think that song is better for Đàm.
ReplyDeleteI'm telling you ... he just got that "đi tu" look in him !!!
hì hì hì !
Hey you guys don't make fun of my bud Dam,
ReplyDeleteneu Dam hong hat nua thi moi nguoi se buon lam do'...
Thie^'u Dam cung giong nhu "ca' ro^ thie^'u...ca'c co^" vay!
Dung va^.y! Minh ma` thieu Da`m nhu ca' trong nuoc can, va^~n so^'ng nhan rang, chi? ho^~ng duoc "no^?i danh" vi`...thie^'u be` hehehe..
ReplyDeleteOK! I'm in ( I assume that my duty is to be there with a big smiley face to support, and maybe, just maybe, sing a couple songs? ) Nghi toi khong da thay run ca^`m ca^.p roi day ne`!
ReplyDeleteHi Chi MN:
ReplyDeleteChi. ma` run ca^`m ca^.p thi` nhu+ Phi Ha?i va` Hua^n la`m sao ma` bi`nh ti~nh no^?i...kho^ng sao dda^u " tro+`i sinh voi sinh co? "...mi`nh ddie^'c kho^ng so+. su'ng ma`....
Yo my man Đàm: if I gotta sing, you gotta sing. :o)
ReplyDelete"OK! I'm in" -- Woohoo!
ReplyDelete"my duty is to be there with a big smiley face to support" -- Yup!
"sing a couple songs" -- Yup!
"Nghi toi khong da thay run ca^`m ca^.p roi day ne`" -- Just pretend you are singing to a bunch of potatoes... :o)
I know my man PH walks the walk. Now, he talks MY talk! Alright!
ReplyDelete"Neu co' chet thi` minh se chet chung" - Dam
ReplyDeleteCo' c. MN la` vui lam roi!! We need to put a program together. It will be fun. Anh Hai is coordinating w/ her about sound sys and to see if we could do 1 hour. So far we have:
ReplyDelete- c.MN (co' anh Tri' khong)? Neu co' anh Tri' thi se rat nhon!!
- a. Hai
- Huan
- PH
- QH
- QT
- Dam
- c PThao
- Son
- Vinh
Cu~ng ngon la`nh la('m chu bo^.!!
Thie^.t ti`nh luo^n.....co' ddu`a kho^ng va^.y..ai cu~ng no'i la` so+. va` run ma` nhi`n va`o danh sa'ch thi` ai cu~ng co' ma(.t ca?......hi hi hi hi
ReplyDeleteOK, this is what sister is proposing:
ReplyDelete"-Since you need a sound system, and anh Tien can
provide it...I hesitate to just pay him for the sound
system unless you can work out something with him...He
had originally offered to set up everything including
karaoke for $500. If you talk to him about helping
VDS, perhaps he can give us a better deal.
His contact is: 571-239-7516.
-Our program will include:
*introduction of Board of Directors (3 minutes)
*words of thanks and update of programs (5 minutes)
*speech by Ambassador Marine (10 minutes)
*slideshow (7 minutes)
*raffles (10 minutes)
*live auctions (10 minutes)
*songs/entertainment
*appeal for assistance
...I don't think we will be able to have one hour set
aside for non-interrupted activities...maybe we can
work something out. We will need to meet together on
Wednesday morning (Nov. 28) to work out the logistics
with our MCs.
"
And this is what I am proposing in reply to her:
ReplyDelete"1. Can the program be as follows:
*introduction of Board of Directors (3 minutes)
*words of thanks and update of programs (5 minutes)
*speech by Ambassador Marine (10 minutes)
*slideshow (7 minutes)
*songs/entertainment (45 minutes)
*raffles (10 minutes)
*songs/entertainment (45 minutes)
*live auctions (10 minutes)
*karaoke (? minutes)
*appeal for assistance
The reason for uninterrupted time is really time itself: everytime the band gets on/off the stage, gets the instruments ready, etc., it takes time (away from the program as a whole). Furthermore, the musicians--and therefore the music--loose their momentum... (BTW, we will not be involved in anyway with the karaoke. Is that OK? This will better allow us to concentrate on our music program.)
2. Will talk with Tien re. your proposal.
3. The meeting on Nov 28 for all of us, band included?"
*songs/entertainment (45 minutes)
ReplyDelete*raffles (10 minutes)
*songs/entertainment (45 minutes)
Wouln't that be 1/2 hour instead?
The extra 15 min. per set is for getting on/off the stage, getting instruments, music, mics, etc. ready, etc., etc.
ReplyDeleteBTW, this is sister's latest:
"The proposed schedule looks fine for me, but let's
wait until the meeting and we'll finalize the plans.
Not all the band members need to be at the
meeting...just you or another representative will be
fine, and you can convey our meeting's decisions with
the rest.
We will probably meet at Mr. Pho's restaurant
(TBA)...I will let you know as soon as I received news
from chi Nga, who will be our MC. She is flying in
from California. She is also a singer. She sang in
Fr. Tuyen's cds..."Con luon tin rang..."
You can ask anh Tien to take care of the Karaoke, so
you do not need to worry about it.
Thanks again and God bless."
QH, don't forget to add Vinhbotden to the list :-))
ReplyDeleteDid Vinhbotden said he would for this one? I know he said he's in for fund raising concerts in general...
ReplyDeleteWould be great if he could, he & c. PThao are great w/ duets.
send him this link via email?
ReplyDeletehehehehehehe...I could..I could....but the audience would be laughing the whole time though. I'm laughing now just thinking about it...hehehe...
ReplyDeleteXiiiiii...Chi MN ma run thi em che^'t lie^n`....heehehe...I have a hunch that you've been planning to join us on that stage all along..hehehe...good to have you there Chi 2.
ReplyDeleteHuan