About

Pham Tan Trieu (Phạm Tấn Triệu) is a Vietnamese-American concert pianist and piano teacher in Orange County, California. His career has spanned more than four decades.

He began his training at a professional music school at the age of seven. He went on to study with some of the most respected figures in Vietnamese music: the composer and educator Professor Nghiêm Phú Phi; Professor Thái Thị Liên, the pianist who taught her son Đặng Thái Sơn; and Professor Nguyễn Thị Cúc Xuân, who trained at the Conservatoire National de Paris and in England. He graduated with honors from the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music, with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance. In 1982–1983 he studied piano pedagogy with Mrs Tran Thanh Thao, then Vice-Director of the conservatory’s Piano Department.

As a soloist, he has given numerous recitals in Saigon. With the Saigon Symphony Orchestra he has performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, Beethoven’s Concerto No. 3 in C minor and Grieg’s Concerto in A minor, among others. He won First Prize at the International Competition for Outstanding Pianists. Since 2011 he has been the concert pianist of the Vietnamese American Philharmonic in Orange County. He continues to explore and perform music of every period, from Bach to the twentieth century.

Teaching has been the other half of his life in music. He taught at the National Music Conservatory in Ho Chi Minh City, and Vietnam’s education authorities awarded him a Certificate of Honor for excellence in teaching. In California he taught at the Irvine Music and Arts School, and in 2006 he founded Huntington Beach Music Art School, which he still directs. His approach brings together the Russian and European traditions and American methods, built on sound technique, natural and logical movement, and fluent sight-reading. He has given some 200 master classes, helping advanced pianists correct and refine their technique. His students have won top prizes at the MTNA National Competitions in 2016, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 across several divisions, along with awards at Bach festivals and fall competitions. They have also performed at the conservatory in Saigon and on SBTN television.

He has been an RCM Examiner for The Royal Conservatory of Music since 2004 and an RCM Certified Teacher since 2022. Since 2022 he has also judged the California Piano Competition.

Alongside classical piano, he coaches singers and songwriters at the keyboard and teaches theory, harmony and improvisation. Still adding to his own training, he has been studying for a Master of Music Education at Southern Utah University since 2022, under Dr. Thomas Herb, Professor of Music Education and Director of Graduate Music Education. He is a member of the Music Teachers National Association and the California Association of Professional Music Teachers.