Tôn-Thât Tiêt was born in Hué (Central Vietnam) in 1933, where he attended high school and began music lessons. He moved to Paris in 1958, studying composition at the Ecole Normale and later with Jean Rivier and André Jolivet at the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP). In addition to accolades he received as a student at the conservatory, he was awarded numerous prizes in France and abroad, including the SACEM Prize and the Lili Boulanger Prize (both in 1972), the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers Prize (1975), and a grant from the French Ministry of Culture (1981).

His music has been performed at Radio France and in festivals including Donaueschingen, Besançon, La Rochelle, Oslo, Nice, Musica Strasbourg, Warsaw Autumn, and the Venice Biennale.