Nguyễn Thanh Thủy was born into a theatre family in Hà Nội. Since 2000 she has held a teaching position at the Vietnam National Academy of Music. Having received numerous distinctions, she currently works with both traditional and experimental music as a đàn tranh performer/improvisor; while collaborating with many musicians and composers for tours in Asia, Europe, the USA. Since 2012 she is based in Sweden where she is undertaking an artistic doctoral project at the Malmö Academy of Music investigating the use of gesture in the performance of traditional Vietnamese music.