Building on the blood moon phenomenon itself — only when the sun, Earth, and moon are lined up does a blood moon occur — Blood Moon Orchestra (BMO) is a genre-bending musical collaboration featuring a collective of immigrant master artists and art educators whose interest in creating new, contemporary sounds. Led by award-winning composer and one of the finest Vietnamese traditional multi-instrumentalists Van-Anh Vo, Blood Moon Orchestra transcends the boundaries of musical genres, connecting cultures and generations, expanding and exploring the sonic capabilities of their instruments to promote cultural understanding and respect while raising awareness about political and social issues through music.

Blood Moon Orchestra was originally known as The VA’V Ensemble. In 2015, after a collaboration that was initiated by RIGHTSTARTER (drummer/producer PC Muñoz and rapper DEM ONE), current director/composer Van-Anh took over the creative directorship in 2017. The organization’s name change happened to reflect its extension of artistic direction that integrates new music genres that speak to broader audiences and generations.