Ca trù performance «Ca trù Show» at CADAO Collective

   Ca trù is an old Vietnamese singing tradition that local audiences consider an art for connoisseurs, and UNESCO lists it as intangible heritage in need of urgent safeguarding. On Friday evenings you can hear it near West Lake (Hồ Tây) in an intimate space where listeners sit right next to the masters.

   The performers come from Giáo phường Ca trù Thái Hà, the Thai Ha ca trù guild, which the press describes as having seven generations of artistic lineage. According to the press, the guild's ca nương singers are joined by Meritorious Artisan Nguyen Van Khue (Nguyễn Văn Khuê) on the đàn đáy lute and ceremonial drummer Nguyen Quyet Thang (Nguyễn Quyết Thắng) on the trống chầu.

   The program includes hát cửa đình, singing at the communal-house gate, and hát chơi, singing for pleasure: the delivery is relaxed, but the genre's scholarly rigor stays intact. The singing takes place upstairs in the Home (Nhà) space; afterwards you can talk with the masters and hold the instruments yourself — the đàn đáy, the đàn bầu monochord, the trống chầu drum, the nhị fiddle and the phách clappers.

   It is an evening for lovers of chamber music and poetry who want to hear live a genre the press describes as embodying the elegance, refinement and intellectual depth of old Hanoi, and a rare chance to see ca trù instruments up close rather than behind museum glass.

   CADAO Collective opened in July 2026 and is meant to be more than a stage: it aims to become a place where young ca nương singers and musicians practice and learn ca trù from the masters.

   «Ca trù Show» runs on Friday evenings, after the «Rối Show» puppet performance; CADAO Collective publishes its schedule month by month. Besides the show ticket there is a package with dinner. CADAO Collective posts the schedule and prices on its Facebook page.

   Sit close to the masters and don't rush off after the last song: holding a đàn đáy in your own hands is what makes the evening stick.