Singer Ha Chau: The former teacher holds shocking secrets about Dam Vinh Hung and Mai Phuong

Singer Ha Chau was born in 1957, graduated from the Military University of Culture and Arts, and is the first generation of artists of the Military Region 7 Art Troupe. She is the former teacher of many famous stars such as: Dam Vinh Hung, Thanh Thao, Mai Phuong,...

Dam Vinh Hung's half kilo of American grapes

Stemming from the desire to pass on knowledge and experience to the younger generation, Ha Chau opened a music class at her father's house - the late musician Bac Son in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City. She often teaches basic knowledge of music theory, then vocal training, composition processing...

Since the time of "low salaries", Ha Chau taught for free or collected symbolic money "just enough to pay for electricity and water". In some cases, when the students were very poor, she did not collect tuition fees but supported them with food, accommodation and living expenses.

"After becoming a show producer, I earn a lot of money, so I have no intention of earning more income from teaching. I mainly want to pass on my techniques and experiences to students. Besides, I practice my voice every day anyway, so combining teaching and self-training is more beneficial," Ha Chau said.

One of her students was singer Dam Vinh Hung. In the early 1990s, he was still a barber. Every morning, he took a motorbike taxi to Le Thi Rieng Park and then walked to Ms. Ha Chau's class.

"At that time, Dam Vinh Hung, who was in the same group, was already singing, so I noticed that there was a 'old ghost bullying new ghost' thing. They saw that Hung was new, so they often bullied him. It was pitiful. I disciplined each of them," she recalled.

Because the teacher did not charge tuition, Dam Vinh Hung felt embarrassed so he saved money from his haircut to buy her half a kilo of American grapes. "I was touched by Hung's sincerity and kindness," she said.

Every day after school, Ha Chau took Dam Vinh Hung to Le Thi Rieng park to catch a motorbike taxi home. She often looked at her student with sympathy, not thinking that he would become a top star in the future.

Ha Chau once took Dam Vinh Hung to sing at Bach Tung Diep Park. Not long after, he joined the Light Music Group and gradually became famous.

In 2005, musician Bac Son passed away. That night, Dam Vinh Hung came home very late from a performance and still stopped by Ha Chau's house. He stood outside the door and said: "Miss, I want to come in and burn incense for him but I'm in my performance clothes. He's also an artist, so he must understand me, right?". Hearing that, she choked up and pulled her former student to pay her respects to her father.

A few months ago, Ha Chau had to go to Nha Trang and coincidentally was on the same flight as Dam Vinh Hung. Seeing him sitting on the plane, she felt embarrassed that "the old student is too famous now" so she didn't dare to say hello, afraid that people around her would think she was "trying to get to know a famous person".

When the plane landed, Dam Vinh Hung saw Ha Chau from afar and called out loudly, running to help his old teacher carry her suitcase. Seeing her feeling sorry, he blamed her: "I don't know, why didn't you call me?". He went with the crew, the bodyguard was still waiting to take the teacher to the car, put her suitcase on and then said goodbye.

Stage name Thanh Thao and sad memories of the ill-fated student Mai Phuong

Thanh Thao was also a favorite student that Ha Chau remembered a lot. In the early 1990s, Thanh Thao - then named Phuong Thao - was only 16 years old, studying in grade 11 at Hung Vuong High School, and was taken by her grandmother to Bach Tung Diep stage to ask Ha Chau's manager to let her sing.

She agreed to let Thanh Thao sing when the main singer had not arrived yet. The first time she stood on the big stage, she performed the song "The Stubborn Girl" and was paid 50 thousand dong for "gas money". A few days later, Ha Chau accepted Thanh Thao into her class, who was also her first music teacher.

Ha Chau pondered over the name Phuong Thao because at that time the couple Phuong Thao - Ngoc Le was very famous. When the audience heard her name, they thought it was a mistake and clapped loudly, but when they saw Thanh Thao, they exclaimed in disappointment, making her feel disappointed and lose her passion for performing.

After much thought, Ha Chau chose the stage name "Thanh Thao". She used this name to sing, and her career quickly took off. Up to now, Thanh Thao is Ha Chau's old student who interacts most frequently on social media.

Meanwhile, Ha Chau often remembers Mai Phuong as a short-lived student. When Mai Phuong was active in the Candy trio, she often sang every night at the tea room opposite the Hoa Binh theater.

The tea room manager at that time was Ha Chau's nephew who introduced Mai Phuong to study vocal music. She remembered Mai Phuong and Khuong Ngoc often went to class together.

Back then, every morning she went from her house on Tran Hung Dao to District 10 to buy dried shrimp, pork floss, mushrooms, noodles... to cook a big pot of broth so that her students could come in and eat at any time.

Before becoming a show producer, she mostly received a sergeant's salary and didn't have much money to buy "delicacies" but all her students loved them. Mai Phuong, Khuong Ngoc and Phung Ngoc Huy often went to the kitchen to fry rice with fish sauce and ate it deliciously.

Ha Chau does not charge tuition fees, so Mai Phuong and Khuong Ngoc who "win" the show will usually take out a little money and put it in an envelope, leaving it on the teacher's piano.

Mai Phuong often confided in Ha Chau all the joys and sorrows in her career and life, even love affairs and anger. She was pregnant and banned from the family so she went to stay at the teacher's house in Binh Duong.

During the day, Mai Phuong drove to work, came home in the afternoon to have dinner with Ha Chau, then slept in the living room, and even when her belly was big, she still insisted on practicing her voice.

After giving birth to Lavie, she diligently took on shows and continued to perform with the Bac Son Love Songs Art Troupe to earn money to raise her child. In times of need, Ha Chau lent money to her students, then sang and gradually deducted it from her salary.

"The day I heard Mai Phuong passed away, I couldn't sleep all night. Memories of her were like slow motion movies...", she said.

The Pride of an Unknown Music Teacher

Singer Nguyen Vu once said that he only had two female teachers in his life, Meritorious Artist Thanh Tri and singer Ha Chau. Until now, every time he meets her, he runs to hug her. "However, Vu is so tall now, I stand up to his armpit, like a little sister standing next to her older brother," the U70 teacher laughed.

Dong Dao and Nhu Hao were also Ha Chau's favorite students. Nhu Hao joined the Military Region 7 Art Troupe when she was only 16 years old. Because she was not old enough to join the army, she was raised by her grandmother for 2 years, and later became a defense worker. Her grandmother commented that Nhu Hao was emotional, and every time she appeared on television, she mentioned and thanked her teacher.

Ha Phuong used to study with Ha Chau, later followed her billionaire husband to settle in the US, sometimes when she returns home she still remembers and visits her.

Midu also studied for a short time but irregularly because she was busy filming. "She soon realized what she was good at so she focused on that. Later when she became famous, I was also happy," she said.

In addition, Ha Chau has many students who, although not famous, still follow the profession and live solely on it until now.

Teaching music since 1976, with many famous students, Ha Chau has never called herself a "vocal teacher". Many people introduced her that way, but she immediately corrected them: "I just call myself a 'music teacher'."

"Many students study for a very short time, only 1-2 months, but after becoming famous, they still remember their old teacher. That is the pride of a music teacher even though they don't have any titles," Ha Chau said.

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