Thuyen Nguyen

Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Thuyền (Bà Đỗ Thế Phiệt) passed away peacefully on July 2, 2026 in Falls Church, VA. She was 97 years old. Over the course of nearly a century, she lived a rich and extraordinary life that took her from the royal palaces of Vietnam, to the arrondissements of Paris and eventually to the United States. A loved and respected mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and

teacher, she will be deeply missed and forever remembered for her strong spirit, passion for music, captivating storytelling, and special sense of humor.Thuyền was preceded in death by her loving husband, Đỗ Thế Phiệt, and deeply missed son Hoang Dothe. She is survived by her daughter-in-law Chaomei He; her granddaughter Emily Dothe and her husband Otto Godwin; her brother Nguyễn Sȃm; her sister Nguyễn Thị Nhã Ðạm; and her brother Nguyễn Nhung.

Thuyền was born on June 21, 1929 in Huế, Vietnam. She was the youngest of six children from her father, Nguyễn Hy, and mother, Lê Thị Tú Oanh. A granddaughter of the Princess Mỹ Lương Công Chúa, she grew up playing in the halls of the royal palace in Huế, but also spent much of her youth in Quảng Ngãi, where her father served as governor. When she wasn’t studying, she could be found playing games with her half-siblings Nguyễn Sȃm and Nguyễn Thị Nhã Ðạm or reading her favorite novels, The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo.

She met her husband, the famed violinist and conductor Đỗ Thế Phiệt, in passing at a restaurant in Saigon and again when she happened to be his piano accompanist on the radio station, Radio France Asie. Their courtship continued when they both went to study music in Paris, and they eventually got married on April 4, 1955. After graduating from École Normale de Musique and Conservatoire Internationale for Chamber Music in 1957, both Thuyền and Phiệt returned to Saigon, Vietnam to help build the National Conservatory of Music. During that time they frequently performed for global diplomats and Thuyền’s students won multiple accolades at international competitions. Their son, Hoằng, was born in December of 1959.

The Fall of Saigon in 1975 brought Thuyền and Hoằng to the United States as refugees. Having tragically lost Phiệt to a heart attack 5 years earlier, the two of them settled in Bridgewater, VA with the help of their Rotary Club sponsors. Refusing to let any setbacks deter her, Thuyền immediately started as an assistant professor of piano at Bridgewater College on her first Monday after arriving to her new home. She later served as a professor of piano at Northern Virginia Community College when she moved to Fairfax, VA in 1982, alongside a highly acclaimed private teaching studio. She also continued teaching privately when she moved to Boston, MA to be closer to Hoằng and his family in 2003. She developed the See-Hear-Play piano method in 1982 and went on to publish numerous books designed to teach piano students of all levels, publishing her latest edition as recently as 2021. She continuously taught private lessons from 1958 up until the end of her life, helping hundreds of

students unlock their potential using her piano method.

Thuyền lived her life with endless fortitude, a sense of duty, a thirst for knowledge and worldliness, and in pursuit of excellence. She was both a traditional and a modern woman, rooted in her Vietnamese upbringing and shaped by life-changing cultural experiences and the realities of being a single working mother. Those who knew her will remember her sharp tact and passionate energy, balanced by her witty humor and charming nature. She leaves us with rich memories of afternoons spent telling stories, interspersed with lessons on reading music and counting time signatures, followed by rewatching her favorite action movies and enjoying Godiva chocolates. Her legacy lives on through her family, friends and students - many of whom carry on the tradition of music - whose lives have been forever altered by the gift of knowing her. May she rest in peace.