TITAN SPOTLIGHT
Teacher’s Song
BY VALENTINE BRKICH ’97
‘ME SEARCH’ REVEALS THE POWER OF MUSIC
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n early 1975, just days before the end of the Vietnam War, Kính T. Vũ—who was then a greatly malnourished infant—was removed from an orphanage in Saigon (today Ho Chi Minh City) and airlifted to Orange County, Calif., where he was nursed back to health at the UCLA Medical Center. Today, the 1997 Westminster alumnus is an assistant professor of music education for Boston University’s (BU) School of Music, where he focuses much of his research on the relationship between music and human displacement, something with which Vu is all too familiar.
“All of my research, to some extent, is mesearch,” says Vũ, who uses his own life experiences and knowledge of music as tools for addressing the global problem of structural violence—the act of some social or political undercurrent or institution that might prevent people from living to their fullest potential as human beings. “Addressing issues of structural violence creates a space for arts making,” says Vũ, who has focused his human displacement research on prisoners in Massachusetts, women in Cambodia, refugees living in Sweden, and, of course, orphans in Vietnam. “If we think deeply about, say, the forced human displacement we’re seeing in Syria’s Civil War, for example…people are being killed. They’re literally fleeing for their lives,” said Vũ. “I surmise that music can have a certain positive power for people who have been displaced. It can give them hope where there is none.” Vũ started out at Westminster College studying religion and philosophy before switching to music education, with a focus on instrumental and choral pedagogy. He took part in marching band, concert band, concert choir, chamber choir, and other small ensembles. But one of the best lessons Vũ ever received about teaching came—from all people—a football coach. His very first PE class at Westminster was racquetball, taught by former Head Football Coach Joe Fusco.
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“He didn’t care that I wasn’t coordinated,” says Vũ. “Here I was, this scrawny 18-year-old kid from rural PA. Coach Fusco was always encouraging, helpful, patient. If any music teacher could observe this, they would see an awesome way to teach: meet the learner where he is and teach him. Fusco a big reason why I teach the way I do today.” Another professor who had a lasting impact on Vũ was Dr. R. Tad Greig, director of instrumental activities and professor of music. “I remember coming back for my sophomore year and Tad gave me a leadership position in the marching band. That changed me. We developed a close relationship that continues to this day.” “What has been consistent over the 22 years of our relationship as a student, and now esteemed colleague and friend, has been Kính’s desire to learn and enrich his own intellect,” says Greig. “The light of his life is only beginning to rise above the horizon, and I look forward, with great anticipation, to where this light will crest.” Following Westminster, Vũ taught high school music for six years then earned a Master of Music in wind conducting from Penn State University in 2005. He taught high school band for another five years before earning a Ph.D. in music education from the University of Minnesota in 2013. As a doctoral student, he focused his dissertation on spoken-word poetry, rap and song of the Hmong people of Southeast Asia.
