Radio Hito - in Concert

In her project Radio Hito, Nguyễn Zen Mỹ explores the relationship between sound and poetry. Seated at the piano, with her hypnotic singing voice, the Belgium-based composer, writer, and artist creates a dark and poetic fusion. Something you can drift away in, yet that also makes you listen more closely.

In Radio Hito, the Italian-Vietnamese composer, writer, and artist Nguyễn Zen Mỹ explores what language is. In her minimalist compositions for piano and voice, language emerges not just as words with meaning, but concrete sound as well. Drawing from literary works, such as those of the French poet Claude Royet-Journoud, she translates and transforms texts into song. The result is a melodic soundscape that invites you to float away, yet demands your attention. Melancholic, experimental, and deeply poetic.

Nguyễn Zen Mỹ, who is based in Belgium, has been playing piano since early childhood. In fact, she could read sheet music before she could read and write, and as a child, she would record over audiobooks with her own improvisations. Music and language have therefore always been deeply intertwined for the musician, who also holds a professorship at the art academy in Strasbourg. “Radio Hito’s set in superb,” wrote The Wire about one of her performances. “Sitting on the altar steps with a synth, her fabulous expressive vocals colour sparse, pensive compositions.”

Though Radio Hito’s setup may be simple, relying only on piano and voice, her concerts are emotionally vast.