East and Southeast Asian folk song arrangements

Songs from home, reimagined for trumpet and piano

A Thai trumpeter and a Chinese-Canadian pianist, carrying the music they grew up with onto the concert stage.

Listen Debut album, 2027

Stamp Netthai holding a trumpet, standing back to back with Linda Ruan, who sits smiling

About

Vela Duo is enthralled by the possibilities of the unique instrumentation of trumpet and piano, curating genre-bending concerts that combine standard classical repertoire with unconventional works and personal arrangements. The duo takes its name from the Thai word for "time," inspired by how music is a temporal art form and how playing with time can make all the difference in an interpretation.

Second-prize winners at the 2023 Princess Galyani Vadhana International Ensemble Competition, Vela Duo has performed and given masterclasses in Thailand, China, Canada and the United States. Their commitment to community connection has taken them to schools in China and Thailand for interactive performances. Vela Duo was formed in 2021 at the Tianjin Juilliard School, where both were fellowship students.

Stamp Netthai and Linda Ruan leaning on a white block, looking at each other

Jid-anan (Stamp) Netthai

Trumpet

Thai trumpeter Jid-anan "Stamp" Netthai bridges classical, jazz and pop. His career features collaborations with the Hangzhou Philharmonic, Singapore's Metropolitan Festival Orchestra, and the Ruam Smai Big Band, with whom he toured Vietnam, Hong Kong and Japan. As a co-founding member of the Brassissimo Brass Quintet, he was invited to the American Brass Quintet Seminar at Aspen in 2019.

A dedicated educator and composer, Stamp is a co-founder of the Bangkok Trumpet Seminar 2025 at Horwang Music Academy, which reached over 200 participants daily. He frequently leads masterclasses in Thailand and creates original arrangements that push the boundaries of brass music. He holds a Bachelor of Music from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory and a Master's from the Tianjin Juilliard School, and is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts at Michigan State University. His artistry has been shaped by mentors Jon Dante, Wen Rong Lau and Sergey Tyuteykin, and he now studies with Justin Emerich.

Linda Ruan

Piano

Named one of the CBC's Hot 30 under 30 Canadian Classical Musicians, Chinese-Canadian pianist Linda Ruan has won prizes at the Lancaster International Piano Competition, PianoArts North American Competition, Seattle International and Eckhardt-Grammátté. With piano duo La Fiammata, she earned second prize at the 70th ARD International Music Competition. She has performed at Carnegie's Weill Hall and Lincoln Center's Rose Studio, completed two cross-Canada tours, and appeared as soloist with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, among others.

Growing up across Tokyo, Shanghai and Vancouver, Linda's multicultural upbringing has cultivated a passion for diverse programming, contemporary music, community engagement and making classical music accessible to all.

Linda received her Bachelor of Music with Honours from The Glenn Gould School under James Anagnoson and Li Wang, and a Master of Music from The Juilliard School in the studio of Hung-Kuan Chen. She completed a second Master of Music at the Tianjin Juilliard School with Dr. Xiaohan Wang and Natalia Katyukova, and a Performance Diploma at the University of British Columbia with Dr. Corey Hamm. She is now pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at Cornell University with Xak Bjerken. Her earlier private studies were with Xiao Li, and she has also studied fortepiano with Audrey Axinn and Yi-heng Yang and conducting with Jeffery Milarsky and Ivars Taurins.

More about Linda at lindaruan.com

Projects

Summer 2026 concerts and residency

June to July 2026 · Yokohama, Fu'an, Bangkok and Banff

9 June: Okurayama Memorial Hall, Yokohama, Japan.
20 June: Match Music Hall, Fu'an, China.
27 June: Horwang Academy, Bangkok, Thailand.
12 to 25 July: Banff Centre Chamber Music Residency, Banff, Canada.

Thai concerts, workshops and masterclasses

Ongoing · Thailand

Vela Duo has performed recitals, workshops and masterclasses in Thailand, including at Horwang Music Academy in Bangkok, and has visited schools in Thailand and China for interactive performances.

Their educational workshop, "All about the Trumpet Family," invites audiences to explore the piccolo, B-flat and C trumpets and the flugelhorn, and how each is used across settings and genres.

Princess Galyani Vadhana International Ensemble Competition

2023 · Bangkok, Thailand

Vela Duo was awarded second prize at the 2023 Princess Galyani Vadhana International Ensemble Competition.

Listen

Kevin McKee: Centennial Horizon · Watch on YouTube

Debut album

Coming in 2027

Our debut album, working title "Vela," brings together our own arrangements of Thai and Chinese folk songs, new works by Canadian composers Kenley Kristofferson and Stephen Chatman, Catherine McMichael's Totem Voices, and a classically inspired arrangement of "It's Always You."

Trumpet is the voice that sings the words, and the piano paints the landscape around it.

Linda Ruan and Stamp Netthai walking hand in hand and laughing, with a trumpet

Contact

For concerts, masterclasses and collaborations, please get in touch.

meetme.veladuo@gmail.com