One of UIC’s popular exchange peers, Tony Dinh, has made a name for himself at UIC, especially when it comes to singing. He originally came to UIC on an exchange for one semester from Hamline University, Saint Paul Minnesota two years ago. Then he came back as an intern for the English Language Centre (ELC).
Tony first heard of UIC back in the USA at Hamline University as they are a partner plus he met and became friends with UIC students who were on a summer programme in Hamline. UIC became his main choice due to gaining a good impression of UIC students that he had met in Hamline. Tony said, “What really brought me to UIC was the people I met from UIC.” He likes the sense of community that UIC offers; “I stay around because of the friends that I have made.”
He is also President of the International Student Club, Intern Liaison for IDO, Volunteer Teaching Assistant with WPEO with the Self-Defense Class, Forward for the UIC rugby team and a member of iMusic. “China is very different from the USA, however as I am of Asian heritage I feel a strong connection here,” Tony said when asked if he liked his time in China.
The iMusic organization is a student-run organization on campus. “With iMusic, new members are interviewed before joining, and when they do become official members, they can choose to be a singer or be an instrumentalist,” Tony mentioned. He went on to say that “iMusic helps students to form bands and gives the students a place to practice and also provides resources such as certain instruments. Most of the bands that perform in UIC are usually selected from iMusic.”
What was surprising when interviewing Tony was that he had not been singing for long. He had only taken singing seriously after he had come to UIC. He had played a bit of piano in his university in the USA.
“I was very self-conscious about myself and cared what people thought about me,” Tony said. “When I came to UIC, I would sing in the dorm, and my room-mate was my only fan as he was the only one who knew that I sang.”
Tony performing at the iMusic Unplugged Concert
When asked about how many languages he could speak, Tony said, “I speak languages at a conversational level or more. These include English, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Hmong, and Korean.” He has studied the latter in UIC. He has picked up some Cantonese since being over in China. He mentioned that when he studies languages, he usually learns via music and songs as it is easier to remember the sounds and tones.
Tony has formed a covers band with other UIC students, and they have called themselves Northern Lights. The name Northern Lights was chosen as Tony wanted a name with North in it to remind him of his home back in the USA. When asked about the songs they cover, he answered that they range from Adele’s Rolling in the Deep, to 90s Cantonese pop sensation Beyond and their hit “Qing Ren (Lover)”.
Tony explained how UIC had given the platform and opportunities to sing in singing contests. He has performed at the iMusic Band show, The Cantonese Singing Competition, UIC Annual Staff Party, The 21st Century World Forum on Chinese Culture, Chinese Talent Shows, and The UIC Singing Competitions, among others.
Arizton Pamplona, a Year 3 GIR student in UIC, helped to teach Tony a lot of the theory behind singing and music. “I knew the basics, but Arizton applied the theory to the practice, which helped me get a better understanding,” Tony said.
“I get my drive from artists like Adele who sing deep and meaningful songs that I can connect with rather than sing upbeat songs,” Tony explained.
A UIC student called Royce Sui, who Tony first observed in The UIC Singing Competition, introduced and helped Tony to get involved in singing Chinese folk music.
Tony performing with his band Northern Lights at the iMusic Band show
“After being in China, I feel I have opened up my range of what I might like to sing. I have done a bit of rap, a little bit of country.” He admitted he did not want to be a ‘one-trick pony’ and instead, he preferred to be known for trying to push himself into trying different styles.
He stressed that he always listened to how the singers perform a song, especially if it is sung in another language so he can see the way they feel when singing and then he tries to copy it.
One of Tony’s biggest accomplishments was that he came fifth in the 8th Cantonese Singing Competition, which had over 80 entrants. Tony did not have a strong command of the Cantonese language but had been attending a Cantonese speaking club. His method was using the pinyin system to learn the lyrics. “It took me about 2 to 3 weeks to learn the song, but that was my first Cantonese song, right after that they told me I had 4 days to prepare for the second round, I decided to sing a song by Eason Chan.” Once Tony had advanced to the third round, he performed with members of his band, where one played a keyboard, another played the guitar, and another member played the erhu. In the final round, he performed with a piano player.
Tony performing in the finals of the 8th Cantonese Singing Competition
A lot of the students like when Tony sings Beyond songs as it is a bit nostalgic for his audience. They also love it when Tony sings popular Western songs by artists like Adele. When asked what he hopes to achieve with the singing, Tony responded with “At the moment, I feel it is like a hobby, but at UIC I feel that there is an opportunity to achieve this small dream.”
From MPRO
Reporter: Samuel Burgess
Photographs supplied by Tony Dinh
Editor: Deen He
(with special thanks to the ELC)
