Maa Vue – Re/sound – PBS Wisconsin Education

Making Her Voice Heard

Maa Vue is a singer/songwriter who creates music in the Hmong language. In her journey as a musician, she draws from her emotions while celebrating her culture and challenging expectations.

Interview

View transcript: English Transcript Hmong Transcript

Three questions…

Maa talks about how singing in show choir helped to raise her confidence and find her voice. How do you feel when you make music? Are there other ways you express yourself?

Maa shares about how there are expectations for girls and women in her family and culture, and that she had to defy those expectations to forge her own path as a musician. What expectations are in your own life?

Maa uses music to communicate with her dad and her culture. What music makes you feel connected to your culture or the ones you love? Why?

Performance

“Txiv Lub Xim Xaus” (Father’s Violin) – In this song, Maa honors her father and his passion for playing the xim xaus, a traditional Hmong string instrument. Maa also reflects on how time with your loved ones should be cherished.

View transcript with lyrics: English Transcript Hmong Transcript

Song

“Txiv Lub Xim Xaus” (Father’s Violin)

Musicians participating in this project have granted permission to PBS Wisconsin Education for their selected songs to be shared. By using this PBS Wisconsin Education website or any of the resources provided to you through the website, you signify your agreement to our Terms of Use.

“I think the language is the most important part of my music... When I think about how I connect to my culture, it's really through the Hmong words that I'm singing, and the fact that it's poetry.”

— Maa Vue

Project Credits

Producer
Ryan Hendricks

Coordinating Producer
Mia Forslund

Videography
Ryan Hendricks
Ian Glodich
Nia Scott

Editing
Ryan Hendricks

Sound
Inga Foley
Beauxregard Neylon
Curtis Sorensen

Captioning
Vicki Way Kipp

University of Wisconsin-Madison Cultural Linguistic Services

Composition
Maa Vue

Web Design
Charles Barrows
Norman Yuson Cuaño

Web Development
John Vieth
Tim Schneider

Graphic and Motion Design
Ian Glodich
Amanda Roslansky
Scott Stetson

Music Education Content
Kathy Bartling
Darin Menk
Laurie Fellenz

Educator Guide
Katherine Miller
Hadfield School
Waukesha, WI

Lucy Wrenn
Palmyra-Eagle Area School District
Palmyra, WI

Project Partner
Wisconsin School Music Association

Executive Producer
Megan Monday

Director of Education
Alyssa Tsagong

Director of Television
Jon Miskowski

Special Thanks
Vang Vue
Weidner Center for the Performing Arts, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

Educator Advisory Group

Kevin Blakeslee
Lincoln Elementary
Madison Metropolitan School District
Madison, WI

Peter Dennee
Carthage College
Kenosha, WI

Matt Eidson
Madison, WI

Heidi Henderson
Milwaukee German Immersion School
Milwaukee, WI

Amy Maack
Gifford K8 School
Racine, WI

Katherine Miller
Hadfield School
Waukesha, WI

Julie A. Palkowski, PhD
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Madison, WI

Schuyler Gardner Pietz
Madison Elementary School
Stevens Point, WI

Linda Ruesink
Watertown Unified School District
Watertown, WI

Sue Smits
Unified School District of De Pere
De Pere, WI

Kurt Stein
Kurt Stein’s School of Music
Fox Cities, WI

Randal Swiggum
Madison Metropolitan School District
Madison, WI

Jesus M. Valencia
Rio H.S./M.S.
Rio, WI

Natasha Verhulst
Keshena Primary School
Menominee Indian School District
Keshena, WI

Lucy Wrenn
Palmyra-Eagle Area School District
Palmyra, WI

Funding Provided By

Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation

Focus Fund for Education

Friends of PBS Wisconsin