Duong Hong Ky

Duong Hong Ky (born 1959 in Saigon, South Vietnam) is a Vietnamese musician, composer, writer, and community activist.

Biography

Early days

Ky grew up in Dalat, Central Vietnam and is a third generation descendant of the famous North Vietnamese scholar and First Rank Mandarin Duong Lam who was also the private teacher of the crown prince in Emperor Tu Duc’s court. Other famous relatives include Duong Lam’s brother, scholar Duong Khue, and prominent 20th century musical composer Duong Thieu Tuoc.

Between 1965 and 1975, Ky attended one of the five most prestigious academies in South Vietnam, the Hung Vuong Academy in Dalat.

In United States

When South Vietnam fell in 1975, Ky joined the exodus of Vietnamese refugees to the United States. Then he attended J. P. McCaskey and Elizabethtown High school, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. In 1986, he received a Bachelor of Art degree from National College of Education in Evanston, Illinois, and in 2002, a Master of Art degree in Music Composition from Parkwood University.

A popular face in the Vietnamese-American communities in Chicago, Illinois, and in Richmond, Virginia, Duong Hong Ky is well-known for his altruism, language skills, as well as his knowledge in several areas such as politics, history, geography, and sports.

People in the communities mostly know of him as the guitarist of the pop group CIM (Chicago International Musicians) that has been around for over 15 years. But in fact, Ky is also a prolific poet and short story writer with over 1000 poems in Vietnamese, Chinese, and English under his pen name. In 1986, he published “Hong Ky’s Selection of Poems”, a selection of 50 of his original poems. Ky actively writes and publishes his work frequently on many popular Vietnamese-American websites. His writing works are mostly in mystery, crime and gangster short stories.

Ky has composed over fifty songs in Vietnamese and English. When performing with his band, Ky sings in eight languages: Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, English, Spanish and Italian. He heads the pop group CIM whose members are of severals races, and performs as the lead guitarist with them at concerts in dance halls around the United States. Ky published the song book “To Tram”, a selection of his songs, and with CIM published a CD that included both his original work as well as covers of Filipino and Japanese composers.

Youth and social work

Ky was a table tennis instructor to the youth at the Vietnamese Association in Illinois in the 1980s. Ky donated his time to train hundreds of youngsters from the age of 10 to 20 in the game of ping pong.

Between 1995 and 1996, Ky worked with the Community Center in Richmond, Virginia, as a social worker. In this short stint of two years, Ky helped settle over 100 families of former officers in the South Vietnamese Armed Forces that had migrated from Vietnam through the HO Program. Besides having been a resettlement specialist, Ky also volunteered his time to help his clients with their English, to counsel them in family and social issues, and to help them adjust to the American way of life.