Blood Moon

Orchestra

Only when the Sun, Moon, and Earth align does a blood-moon occur.

Van Anh Vo’s Blood Moon Orchestra is a genre-bending musical collective that defies the bounds of Vietnamese traditional music, hip-hop/rap, and breakdance.

All master musicians, members of BMO have an innate ability to blend very different sounds together, creating surprisingly new and fresh musical dialogues. Beginning back in 2015 as an initiative by RIGHTSTARTER (drummer/producer PC Muñoz and rapper DEM ONE), current director/composer Van-Anh took over the creative directorship in 2017. BMO concerts address social issues, critically engage with underserved communities on issues of our times, and bridge cultures and generations through traditional music. In 2019, BMO was a headliner and provided workshops to 12,800 audience members for BridgeFest Vietnam, which aimed to foster dialogue surrounding diversity and equality.

Van-anh Vo

DIRECTOR, COMPOSER, LEAD ARTIST

In 2016, Van-Anh founded Blood Moon Orchestra (BMO) as a collective of immigrant artists (including Japanese, Iranian, African-American, Turkish, Irish artists) who are all composers, performers, and educators. Their mission is to promote cultural understanding and respect while raising awareness about political and social issues through the use of musical instruments of diverse cultures, pushing boundaries, and expanding and exploring the sonic capabilities of their respective instruments.