In a stage show that includes virtuosa playing, audience participation and showmanship, the Khac Chi Ensemble will perform mostly traditional pieces, playing more than a dozen instruments that are indigenous to Vietnam. Among them are the dan bau, a one-string zither; a special stick fiddle called the Ko ni; the Tam Thap Luc, the Vietnamese version of a hammered dulcimer, drums and several of bamboo wind and percussive instruments.

Ho Khac Chi and Hoang Ngoc Bich

Residents of Vancouver, Canada since 1992, both musicians had well-established careers in Vietnam prior to that. Ho Khac Chi is an award-winning composer and also is considered the world's premier virtuoso on the dan bau. He was formerly a professor of music at the Vietnam Conservatory of Music and conductor of the Conservatory's traditional instrument orchestra, including several touring ensembles that evolved into the the Khac Chi Ensemble.

Ngoc Bich, the other half of the duo, was the first woman in Vietnam ever to win first prize on the dan bau in the Vietnam Competition of Professional Instrumentalists. She is also credited with being the first woman ever to play the ko ni, a two-string stick fiddle where silk threads are attached to a disc that is held in the mouth so that the mouth serves as the resonating chamber for the instrument. She was a regular performer for national radio and international radio and television in Vietnam and has toured internationally both on her own and with Khac Chi.

In Vancouver, Chi and Bich teach Vietnamese music at the University of British Columbia. In addition to touring regularly in the U.S. and abroad, Khac Chi also has recently produced a CD titled "Spirit of Vietnam."