Sao Mai Dao To Loan: Vietnam's No. 1 Opera voice had a difficult childhood, working many jobs to make a living

Dao To Loan is known as a singer who possesses a soaring yet technical voice. In particular, she likes to challenge herself with different experiments, the latest being singing Van Cao's music.

Dao To Loan's full name is Dao Thi To Loan, born in 1986 in Thai Nguyen, possesses a colorful Soprano voice with a wide range up to F6, and is currently a singer of chamber music and opera. She won the 2011 National Television Singing Festival in the chamber music category.

To Loan was born into a family with difficult circumstances and no one followed art. At the age of 6, the female singer encountered a major incident: her biological mother passed away. When she was 20 years old, she began studying at the Intermediate level - Vietnam National Academy of Music.

On the path to pursuing her singing career, original singer Thai Nguyen has achieved many admirable achievements. In 2011, she won first prize in the Sao Mai contest. In 2014, the singer won both the First Prize and the Audience Award at the Lidal North Opera Conference at the Oslo Opera House.

Four years later, To Loan continued to win first prize at the Southeast Asia Opera Competition in Singapore. In 2019, the female singer won the Gold Medal at the National Professional Performance Festival and Second Prize at the Vietnam Opera Competition. In 2021, she brought home the Third Professional Prize at the MAP International Music Competition (MAP - IMC), held from Los Angeles USA...

Dao To Loan said that winning this award made the female singer burst with honor and national pride. It was a memorable milestone not only for her, but also for Vietnamese Opera, when the artists surpassed themselves.

Shining on stage with a soaring yet technical voice, few people can believe that such an artist went through difficult childhood years. Orphaned at the age of 6, To Loan's father married a new wife three months later and was always drunk.

Without a mother nearby to care for them, the three sisters Dao To Loan naturally grew up loving and supporting each other. Her family lives in Thai Nguyen, on a remote hill, from house to house across a stream. The family situation was so poor that when Meritorious Artist Huyen Thanh - the singer's later adoptive mother - came back to visit, she went out to the back porch and cried: "Why are you so poor, even more than Ms. Dau?"

Every day, her two sisters worked as hired laborers to make a living, and To Loan, who was still young, also followed behind to help. When she was a little older, she cut grass, harvested rice, and worked hard at anything she could do to earn money to go to school. The family has a poor household certificate, so the three sisters go to school without losing money.

The biggest turning point for the Vietnamese music industry to have Dao To Loan - an impressive chamber singer with an extremely rare, high-pitched soprano voice and wide range - was when her older sister fainted due to going to school and working too hard.

"The eldest sister is our second mother. Mother passed away early, so she had to bear the burden of caring for and raising the younger siblings. Through countless hardships and sufferings, the sisters raised each other. I am very happy." "I'm happy and proud to have a sister who is so strong-willed and self-sacrificing. That's the woman I'm indebted to. Thinking she worked so hard, I decided to drop out of school and go to work," the female singer confided. .

Although fate is cruel, there are times when it smiles at Dao To Loan. While working part-time, the female singer met her first boyfriend, who is also her current husband. Discovering that his girlfriend's singing voice was so good, he encouraged her to take the exam at the Vietnam National Academy of Music and inspired her in the years to come.

Dao To Loan shared that the 10-year journey was extremely arduous and challenging, but she did not feel discouraged because she lived her passion. "There were two-hour lessons where the teacher corrected me on just one note that I couldn't sing correctly, so she sent me home. Along the way, I was sad and cried non-stop.

I struggled all day, rushing to practice, still waking up at 11 o'clock at night to practice my voice until 2 a.m., so I was scolded by the landlord. There's no piano in my room, so I often go to school early and borrow the piano to practice before class," the female singer said.

Training courses in Austria, Germany and Norway have helped Dao To Loan expand her knowledge, thinking and musical aesthetics with Opera, conquer many difficult techniques and win international awards.

But not only with classically trained music, the Thai Nguyen original singer also wants to challenge herself in many other genres, the latest being singing Van Cao music, with CD vol2 "First Spring".

This project was launched in anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the musician's birth (1923-2023). Music and that beautiful melody conquered all of his music-loving souls and she was no exception.

The leading opera voice shared that he loves and admires Van Cao's music because hidden deep within the melodious, dreamy romantic lyrics are profound philosophies. Talking about the opportunity to sing his songs, To Loan said she felt lucky to meet Nguyen Quynh Anh - Vice President of the Vietnam Bar Federation - a neighbor and also a music lover of the talented musician. flower.

She and the Vietnam Musicians Association and the organizing committee came up with the idea of organizing a Vietnamese Bird Music night, celebrating the 100th birthday of musician Van Cao and implementing a CD music project with a book about him as a gift. especially meaningful for the audience.

In addition, To Loan is also very happy because of singer Tung Duong - who gave her strength and gave her a lot of feedback when she sang Van Cao's music. In CD vol2 First Spring, the male singer dueted with her the song "Dan Chim Viet" - the theme song of the music night. The female singer expressed her wish that after this CD, the audience will remember Dao To Loan as a singer who sings Van Cao music.