Dear Thày Lâm,
I thought I’d be done with orchestra after high school, but I ended up coming back year after year after year to play in your orchestra. In my years of playing in an orchestra before joining, I’ve never played for a conductor with so much talent and love for music before. All these years of orchestra under your leadership are years that I’ll cherish and remember forever. I enjoyed the music that you’ve written more than I’ve enjoyed playing any other song; it was so beautifully written and you could even tell that there was so much love in every single note on those sheets. Every rehearsal, you were able to pick out any wrong note in a sea of sounds; from choir all the way to the orchestra, you could hear a single note out of tune from one person. Picking up my bass won’t ever be the same without you, but I’m glad that I could at least pick it up one last time, to play for you. Not only were you the best conductor I’ve ever met, but you are also the greatest teacher. You would give us advice on how to better ourselves every time, especially like “Every great musician carries their own pencil.” Those words will stay with me forever. And so with this, I hope you can hear our orchestra one last time, sending you off. Rest easy, Thay Lam.

With love,

Brandon Nguyen (Orchestra member)