Mai Khoi And The Dissidents

Bio

Mai Khôi is an award-winning singer, composer, and activist. She rose to stardom in 2010 after winning the Vietnam Television Song and Album of the Year awards. As a pop star, Khôi released seven albums in genres of Vietnamese pop and dance, and made nationally televised performances. After growing uncomfortable submitting her work to government censors, she nominated herself to run in the National Assembly elections on a pro-democracy platform. Her campaign sparked a nationwide debate about political participation and culminated in a meeting with Barack Obama in May 2016. But her activism came at a high price: she had her concerts raided, was evicted from multiple residences, and was detained and interrogated by the police.

Since 2019, Mai Khôi has lived in exile in the USA. In 2021, she formed the band Mai Khôi & the Dissidents with pianist/composer Mark Micchelli to present her genre-busting songs; their debut album “Five Years in Exile” will be released in April 2026. Mai Khôi & the Dissidents is also featured in Khôi’s autobiographical multimedia performance “Bad Activist,” which combines original music, projections, archival footage, and storytelling to fiercely advocate for democracy and freedom of expression in Vietnam and around the world.

In recognition of her work at the intersection of art and activism, Khôi was awarded the 2018 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent and the 2022 Four Freedoms Award for Freedom of Speech. Khôi is currently developing an opera cooking show based on recipes she learned from her mother in Vietnam.

About the Show

Mai Khôi & the Dissidents makes their West Virginia debut at 123 Pleasant St, celebrating the release of their new album “Five Years in Exile.” The album follows Khôi through her first five years in the United States, where she fled to in 2019 to avoid political persecution in Vietnam. Unlike her previous album “Dissent,” recorded in secret in Vietnam and dedicated exclusively to protest music, “Five Years in Exile” is more personal and introspective. Protest music sits alongside songs that deal with love, nostalgia, loneliness, and grief. The songs, co-written with keyboardist Mark Micchelli, deftly weave through genres as diverse as jazz, experimental music, math rock, art song, and even a bit of the pop and dance music Khôi used to sing in Vietnam.