Ha Van's real name is Pham Minh-Van. Her stage name was adopted with
the help of her friends in the music circle. Ha Van and her family came to the
United States in 1975. She lived in L.A. for a time before settling in
Fremont, California. Ha Van came from a family of musician and music lovers. She
started singing at a very early age. Ha Van performed in front of an audience
for the first time in Vietnam at the age of 10. She attributed much of her
inspirations in the early years to her brothers and sisters - who she credited
as her major supporters.
In 1967, she began her professional career singing
at the Continental Hotel in Saigon. She continued this path in the U.S.
by entering the annual singing contest held in Seattle in 1994. Ha Van
likes Vietnamese, French and English Pop music, as well as Jazz and
Classical music. According to her, she is inspired by
the sadness and the happiness in life and from the freedom she gets
when she sings. Ha Van is a fairly new member of the family of Vietnamese
Musicians abroad. Ha Van's fans often come after her concerts to give her
words of encouragement and motivation. To her these impromptu meetings are most
touching and inspirational. Her favorite song is "Mot Thuo Yeu Nguoi" by Tran
Chi Phuc. While she has been on many stages and has performed to many
audiences in her career, Ha Van says that her first performance at school
when she was 10, was the her most memorable.
Besides singing, Ha Van is quite an accomplished
drummer. On her free time she is involved in broadcasting on Vietnamese
Radio and she also finds time to fit in her other passion in the photographing
of people and landscapes. Ha Van's other past time activities are: Shopping,
cooking, tennis and traveling. She enjoys fine dining, good food, (any food,
from any country as long it is good), no alcohol! and of course good company.
She also likes to go to L.A. to visit many of her friends and immediate
family members.
Ha van's immediate goal is releasing another
CD and hopefully appearing in some videos in the near future. Her long term
goals are to keep making CD, videos and to be a producer, helping other young
artists break-in to the business and to realize their talents. Her other
dream is to perform at various refugee camps around the world.
Ha Van is one of a handful of Vietnamese
artists who has her own page on the web. Readers and fans of Ha Van can reach
her by visiting her website.
Copyright (c) 1996-1999 VEN Productions