BosbaPANH: News

“WINDS OF ANGKOR” – A NEW MUSICAL BY BRITISH COMPOSER SARAH O’BRIEN

 CAMBODIA CAST

Jessica Pennington......................................................Mai
David Nett...................................................................Alex
Amara Chhin-Lawrence.....................................Sopheap
Jean-Baptiste Phou...................................................Chan
Roberto Perlas Gomez...................................Ratha Sam
BosbaPANH.................................................child prisoner

Choreography by Maritza Navarro
Lighting and Projections by Bryan Faris
Video Direction by Melissa Holt
Audio Design by Wolfgang Aichholz

 On August 8^th at Chatomuk Theatre, highlights from the new musical “Winds of Angkor” will be presented as part of CLA’s Cambodian Youth Arts Festival. British composer Sarah O’Brien will introduce the piece which will be performed by an international cast and Cambodian artists including Amara Chhin-Lawrence, Jean-Baptiste Phou, Chamnap Nou, contemporary dancer Belle, and young soprano Bosba Panh. A children’s chorus from Seametrey Children’s Village will also perform, under the direction of Muoy You.    

  “Winds of Angkor” is set in contemporary Cambodia, with flashbacks to the Khmer Rouge regime of the late 1970s. The story chronicles a forbidden love affair between prisoners of the Khmer Rouge, and its impact on a Western journalist who falls in love with a survivor of the regime. The double love story is told through music and dance, and specially designed video projections, created in Hollywood, USA.

 Letters exchanged between prisoners of the Khmer Rouge regime were discovered in Tuol Sleng (S-21) archives and became the inspiration for ‘Winds of Angkor’ after they were featured in a British newspaper in the late 1990s. Over the next ten years Sarah visited Cambodia several times to research the piece.  She also got involved with the Cambodian community of Long Beach, California as she developed a musical score that combines traditional Cambodian elements with Western-style symphonic elements. Last summer Sarah had the opportunity to film excerpts from the show which can be viewed at www.youtube.com/windsofangkor.

 “We are very excited and honoured to perform for the first time in Cambodia!” says composer Sarah O’Brien. “The cast and crew of Winds of Angkor have worked for many years to develop the piece and we are all grateful to CLA for this incredible opportunity. We are also looking forward to meeting the other participants and learning more about Cambodian culture. It will be a unique collaboration and everyone has been practicing very hard in their home countries. When it all comes together it will be a dream come true, and something very special that we hope the audience will enjoy.”

 One of the songs will feature Bosba Panh in a role that was specially written for a child to perform. Bosba will rehearse with Amara before joining the cast when they arrive from Los Angeles and Paris.

 Plans to stage a full production in Cambodia and major cities internationally are currently under discussion. Profits will benefit ongoing development in Cambodia and Cambodian communities around the world.

 “Winds of Angkor” is currently supported by STEAM Int’l Inc – (Service through Entertainment, Art & Music) – a 501 (3)(c) non-profit production company established by the composer.

For more information and sponsorship opportunities, please contact: 

Sarah O’Brien

contact@windsofangkor

www.windsofangkor.com

 

 

 

Bosbapanh will perform with OH Dabeen, 16 years old, Korea and LEE Seul, 21, Korea. The three young sopranos will sing Italian opera and Khmer classics.

 

bosbaPANH

bosbaPANH is a Khmer soprano age 13. She has been performing since the age of 8. Her latest concert, Our Mothers, took place in October 2009 at Chaktomuk Hall and drawing double the capacity of the theater. She has already released 3 CD albums, 5 single albums and 2 DVDs. She sings “phleng cheewit”or songs for life from Cambodia and an international repertoire. She plays piano, guitar and violin and has been trained by Khmer and international teachers from China, the Philippines and Japan. She has been coached by Korean soprano Kim Myungsil for the past year to learn western classical music techniques. Bosbapanh is a student at the French Lycee Rene Descartes of Phnom Penh and has two brothers who are also artists. (www.bosbapanh.com)

OH Dabeen

Dabeen is 16 years old and has received vocal lessons from soprano Kim Myungsil since 2006. She is a ninth grader at the French Lycee Rene Descartes of Phnom Penh. She is preparing herself to enter one of the best highschool in Paris and to continue to study music at the Conservatoire de Paris.

LEE Seul

Seul is 21 years old and has been studying music and singing for several years. She has been coached by soprano Kim Myungsil since early this year to prepare for music competitions. This October, she will enter the Conservatory of Music in Italy.

Soprano KIM Myungsil

Teacher Myungsil received a diploma in vocal studies from Verdi Conservatory in Italy. She graduated from Reggio Calabria Academy (Italy). She won prizes at the Torino competition and performed as a solist in several concerts in Bolzano, Trento, Milano, Monza. Her repertoire includes Mozart, Donizetti, Bellini, Rossini’s opera and special opera buffa. Joining her husband, she is now living in Cambodia and has established Cantabile, a group of professional vocalists in Phnom Penh. She is teaching shalom music class in Phnom Penh.

More information: Kim Myungsil 092-761-101

SCREENING AND DEBATE : RESURGENCE OF A MUSICAL CULTURE IN THE KINGDOM OF WONDER:
BETWEEN PRESERVATION AND EVOLUTION ?

ORGANIZED FOR THE LAUNCH DVD OF THE NEAK ME - OUR MOTHERS CONCERT
& 60-MN DVD DOCUMENTARY ON THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES STORY
AT MONUMENT BOOKS - SATURDAY 10 APRIL 2010 – 4:00 PM

A screening and debate will be held on Saturday, 10 April 2010, at 4 pm at Monument Books on “Resurgence of a musical culture in the Kingdom of Wonder: between conservation and evolution?” or how to achieve a balance between conservation (apireak) and evolution (apiwat) of traditional Cambodian music and dance.
This debate will be led by bosbaPANH’s Artistic Director, Panh Meng Heang, and a number of leading Cambodian performers. The debate takes place during “bosbaPANH week” organized by Monument Books from 3-10 April 2010 for the launch of bosbaPANH’s two new DVDs.

The first DVD is the two-hour October 2009 concert, Neak Mê – Our Mothers, which showcased the talents of then-12-year old soprano bosbaPANH, and 100 other accomplished Cambodian musicians. The concert was a remarkable success, drawing double the capacity of Chaktomuk Hall.

Raoul Jennar, a French researcher, said of the concert: “It was a beautiful concert -- profoundly Khmer but through the selection of songs, also international. I was very impressed to see one so young and so talented”. Secretary of State for Tourism, HE So Mara, added: “We are promoting Cambodia as the Kingdom of Wonder. bosbaPANH is one of our wonders. She helps promote our country and will inspire other young artists”.

The second DVD is a 60-minute ‘behind the scenes’ documentary made during rehearsals and the Neak Mê – Our Mothers concert. This offers a unique insight into the challenges of bringing together a large and wide range of performers, and explains their motivation in working with a much younger artist. A Khmer classical dance group and five very different orchestras came together for the concert – mohori, pinpeat, popular, western classic, and a brass band.

The April 10 screening and debate marks the end of bosbaPANH Week at Monument Books. An exhibition from 3 to 10 April gives bookstore visitors an opportunity to learn more about the 13-year old performer. Photographs of bosbaPANH, music sheets and musical instruments used in the Neak Mê concert will be displayed along with bosbaPANH’s traditional and modern stage costumes.

During the Neak Mê – Our Mothers concert, which was about the dedication and love of mothers, bosbaPANH sang a wide range of songs from an international and Khmer repertoire. Songs included Concierto de Aranjuez; Ave Maria; La Vie en Rose; Summer Time; traditional Khmer Mohori; and the elegant songs of King Father Norodom Sihanouk and of Khmer golden voice, Sin Sisamout.

The DVD set, presented in an unusual format (a large square bag), offers high quality of design and film editing and demonstrates efforts in disseminating Khmer music with sub-titles in Khmer, French and English. It contains: the two DVDs and an attractive 24-page booklet in English and Khmer. This is illustrated with historic photographs, and gives the narration for the concert as well as the lyrics to selected songs. These old photographs take us back to Phnom Penh in the 1940s, showing the now disappearing colonial buildings, rural landscapes, clothing styles, and other evocative images from a happier past.

The DVD pack, which is priced at $20, is available at a number of locations in Phnom Penh: Monument Books on 111 Norodom Boulevard; Monument Books’ branch at the airport; the three branches of Café Sentiment and Malis Restaurant. Monument Books is also selling the DVD pack at its branches in Siem Reap and at the city’s airport.

Patrick and Louise Marty have a music school in Paris, called Atelier Musical des Trois Tambours. It is located in "La Goutte d'Or", they say it is a difficult neighborhood and they use music as a way to get harmony between the different communities. They teach to 200 children and adults. That's how they came to know Cambodia three years ago: one of the children was Cambodian and they became friends of her parents. They visited here and we met, they discussed many things with my parents: the difficulty to find music teachers for me, and that there were no school for children to learn about music. They came back this year to see if this was possible to start a small school, maybe with only 30 or 40 children. Because you will need to find the teachers, the music instruments, the place, and how to pay for all this without always asking for charities. We worked with the children of Seametrey School, a Montessori School run by Mouy You. That's a very very nice school with lots of trees and no cars (because it is in a very very small street). Patrick and Louise met with my teachers, they met with many people. They also taught me how to give my first lessons of guitars to students ! It was fun and I worked hard for 10 days with them and 5 students. It is not easy to be a teacher but you are so happy when they can finally pinch properly the string and give you a note. My parents and the Martys decided that despite the difficulties, we should try to do something so that we can get more children to learn music. They did not had the chance I had, the private lessons are very expensive and we never have the chance to play with other musicians. The plan is to open the school - or should we say an atelier, as this will be very small to start with ! - by October 2010. There are more information on the website, check out ! : www.musicschool-cambodia.com

I am on the cover of F magazine, the fashion magazine for their February-March issue. This coincides with my 13th birthday. A big date as this means I have completed my 12-year cycle and entering the new one this Saturday. Dad has agreed that we go to Chaya's resort, with some of my friends and also our whole family will be here as Sibxy is back from Beijing for a month-break.

He is helping me start my Chinese lessons, I am learning at distance as there is no Chinese teacher at the Lycee Descartes. I am still doing well at school this quarter, my friends say "I am a robot" and it makes me laugh. Actually, it is easy to get good notes, you just need to work a lot and know well your lessons. With the internet, I also try to find more information about the topics we are discussing. I understand why my Dad decided that I would go to the French school and learn English at a young age. If I knew only Khmer, I would not have access to books, to knowledge on the internet and other things.

I put the article of F Magazine in the photo gallery. I look older than I am! The thing I liked most was the photo session, because everybody was so relaxed (especially Franco and Mao, they are always clowning around), the weather was cool and we enjoyed the garden. We had sandwich-pate et soft drinks, miamm... so good. In the photo gallery, there are also some photos that Dad took of us when preparing for the photo shots.

L'Atelier des Trois Tambours is a private association created by Louise and Patrick Marty to provide music education in a disadvantaged neighborhood in Paris (la Goutte d'Or where you have a large community of immigrants and the Government did not take care of this quarter very much).

They train children but also adults in musical instruments and in choir. Louise and Patrick are musicians themselves and have three daughters who are musicians. Many years ago, they started a musical school in Benin. I think great ideas come up from meeting so many people at the Atelier des Trois Tambours. So two years ago, Louise and Patrick came to Phnom Penh to meet with friends here, and we were introduced to each other. Now they would love to start a school here as well.

To see if it is possible to start such school, we are helping them put up a training workshop and invite children (from 8 to 15 years old) and music teachers to come for training from February 20th to March 2nd, 2010. Teachers attend the full day training and children come in the afternoon.

If you are a musician or a teacher, contact my dad at bosbapanh@online.com.kh or 855-12 634 811 to get more information. You have to apply before February 12th (but if you apply late but you are really motivated, I am sure Dad will find a way for you).

Join and we will play / learn together, lots of fun and hard work. This will be a great start to have a music school for children in Cambodia.

A sister from Don Bosco School said that the celebration of Christmas is the time for love, time for sharing, time for giving. I would like to share this thought with you and wish you a wonderful and prosperous new year 2010. In particular, I have a special thought for pou (uncle) LENG Chanthorn, who has suffered a cerebral embolism. He played drums on my last CD, the song "La Vie en Rose". I have discussed with Dad and to help him we will sell 100 CDs of la Vie en Rose and give the money to him so he can pay for his hospital fees. I hope he will get better soon.

I have received many emails and comments that of the 22 songs I did during the concert, the one they preferred is "Neak Me" (our mothers). We are three to play acoustic guitar on this famous melody that Spanish composer Joaquim Rodrigo wrote in 1939, in the turmoil of the Second World War. When he composed this song, it was to evoke both the happy days before the war and the tragedies that follow. In the concert, I sing this song to announce the imminent drama of a family of teachers. It recalls the story of my grand mother, when she had to leave her village because the French rulers have redesigned the frontiers and when she died we don't know where after the evacuation of Phnom Penh. She was the pillar of the family and witnessed the death of most of our family members. Uncle Rithy and auntie Lackhana told us she was the last to die. I have never met her. That's why tears always come to my eyes each time I sing this song.

Neak Mê
Over the mountains, Across the rivers
Through the thunder - Neak Mê
The wind brings back our words
Our screams - Neak Mê
At sunset the junk leaves the port
The grand river
Kompong Tonle whimpers
Neak Mê
Now the temple is beyond repair
No roof left, all swallowed by fire.
To meditate too much
On the passing seasons
We store up years
Since this early morning of April
When they arrived
Yelling, singing, aiming
Writing on walls
They shot and they wrote
Words that made us tremble.
Neak Mê
The vines of roses grow from these stains

And on these walls, blood-red petals
Break out every April
The roses climb among the bruises
And turn so red that they pierce us.
Neak Mê
The well is dry and empty - Neak Mê
Rice fields are burnt by the sun
During the parched season of April
Counting the rythm of the seasons
Dozens of years pile up
Since these early hours of April
When they arrived
Their chests covered with roses
Like deaf-mutes
Barefoot, with tense bodies
In their fiery eyes
Begins the strange smile
of the powerful - Neak Mê
One can guess the trails of blood
So violently red on these wall
But these are only roses.
Neak Mê, my love.

The concert “Our Mothers” is now over. We had a lot of people coming to see us, many could not find a seat but at the end, everybody was very happy so I think we played well.



I liked the stage, it was as if we were in a garden, with fifty freshly cut banana trees bearing their fruits, palm leaves, coconut branches, more than one thousand lotus flowers. I did not had the feeling we were in Chaktomuk. On the sides, there were projections of old postcards from the early 20th century.


It took us a lot of work to prepare this one, so many rehearsals and I sung 22 songs. That’s almost the double of what I did in 2007.



We have been rehearsing for six months three times a week with one big gathering every Sunday. Dad assembled 5 orchestras for this concert: khru Yon Theara mohori traditional group, khru Soy Saret pinpeat traditional orchestra, Mao Moni Brass Band, Put Thea folklore group and our semi-classical band. Em Theay and her family oversaw the dance scene of Sibxy, my elder brother.


I like working with the khru (it means “masters”), they taught me what they know with a lot of affection. They also provided a lot of attention for Panhlauv, my younger brother, who is the younger among us.


We were lucky that a big hotel let us use their ballroom for our Sunday rehearsal. We were about 100 every time.


Sponsors provided lunch but once, we also used the hotel staff canteen and it was so fun. I will miss these Sundays with all the artists. We were relaxed and had really a good time. Sibxy has been for once able to join us. We chose the date of the concert to match his holidays (Chinese National Day). In this photo, he is dancing "Krong Reap adbucting Neang Seida". Khru Soy Saret and Khru Tiara mohori orchestras did marvels, especially ta Pruong playing drums.


We have launched during the concert the third CD “La Vie en Rose”, it has a nice song booklet that Jojo and Dino from Phibious designed for me.So many friends helped us during this concert.

But what I like most is still the end of the concert… because now we can go on a week end at the seaside with all the musicians.


For me the only thing that went wrong during the concert is that our maid stole my laptop on the day of the performance when we were too busy. All my school lessons are on there and I use it to compose music. Two years ago when we were preparing for the concert, Dad has his video camera stolen but has been able to recover at the pawn shop against $400. I don’t understand why they do like this. These are people who are so close to us, see us work so hard… but still have the cold heart to steal.

What I am preparing now is a trip to Singapore for this December. I am one of the two Cambodian athletes selected to join the Singapore 2010 Friendship Camp which is part of the Youth Olympic Games. More than 170 countries will send their representatives. As for my next big concert, I think maybe in two years. For now, I think it would be nice if we could play “Our Mothers” in some ASEAN cities.

Announcing
2-HOUR LIVE PERFORMANCE OF SOPRANO BOSBAPANH
“OUR MOTHERS”
AND LAUNCH OF 3RD CD ALBUM

CHAKTOMUK HALL
FRIDAY 9TH OCTOBER 2009 – 7:00 – 9:00 PM

Contact
Panh Meng Heang
La Companie bosbaPANH
bosbapanh@online.com.kh – www.bosbapanh.com
Phnom Penh, 27 August 2009 - bosbaPANH, Khmer coloratura soprano age 12, will give a unique two-hour performance at Chaktomuk Hall, Phnom Penh, on Friday 9th October 2009. She will launch her third CD Album “La Vie en Rose”.

This is the third concert of bosbaPANH, after the Raffles Hotel Le Royal in 2006 to launch her first album “ Phnom Penh” at the age of 9 and Chaktomuk Hall in 2007 for her second album “SrorMay” when she was 10 years old.

The Concert “Our Mothers” is celebrating the love and dedication of mothers. As bosbaPANH enters adulthood she remembers her grand mother’s role in her family, is called to observe the life and responsibilities of Cambodian women.

Set in the mid 20th century, the story starts with an exploratory journey of a family of teachers from their province to the capital city of the Kingdom. The French are debating about their civilizing mission in Indochina and this family will need to relocate. This is the first time the Mother has traveled, and her discoveries in Phnom Penh are relived in a number scenes through pictures, music, dance and song that recreate what the Mother experienced in traveling up the slow moving Mekong to Kampuchea Achariya, the Kingdom of Wonder. At the end of the journey, the Mother will need to decide if the family will start a new life in Phnom Penh.

bosbaPANH interprets a repertoire songs, images and dance to describe the mother’s first journey. The scenes evolve from the hopelessness of war, to the slow moving river and stately sugar palm trees, to happy children singing on their way to rural school. As the boat moves upstream, she is charmed by the tranquility of lush, green rice fields. On arriving in Phnom Penh, she glances at the beautiful women dancing the ramvong in a park, on a Sunday afternoon. She sees how love can transform women and also shatter them when it fails. Through these different portraits, the concert is finally a tribute to mothers, the foundation of our families and our society.

The concert will include a range of classical pieces such as Concierto Di Aranjuez, Ave Maria; the elegant songs of King Father Sihanouk; traditional mohori Khmer lullabies, and other eternal songs from an international repertoire such as la La Vie en Rose.

The highlight of the concert is a piece of Ramayana dance where her brother Sibxy Na Panh dances the Yeak, the evil giant, while bosbaPANH sings. The act tells the story of Krong Reap, aducting Princess Sita to be his wife. Sibxy Na Panh expresses the violence of the Powerful when they want a woman or gain more power.

The concert features also happy scenes with songs from the legendary Khmer musicians Sin Sisamouth, Pen Ron, Ros Sereysothea. Among the eternal Khmer pop songs are: Mlop Po Bakheing (Under the Banyan Tree of Bakeng), Vea Cha Chab Meas (Golden Bird), Apsara (King Father Norodom Sihanouk).

bosbaPANH surprises with her dramatic rendition of foreign songs interpreted in Khmer. Among these: La Vie En Rose, a 1946 love song by French singer Edith Piaf which has been interpreted by famous artists worldwide from Louis Armstrong to Luciano Pavarotti and Grace Jones. Piaf’s life symbolizes both resilience in the face of adversity and the triumph of talent and love; and Summertime, an aria composed by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The song soon became a popular jazz standard. bosbaPANH uses this languid jazz melody for a daughter crying over her mother who left to be a bar girl.

The two-hour performance is organized by La Compagnie bosbaPANH with the support of Cambodia Mekong Bank Public Limited (MekongBank) and American Express Company.

Our thanks also go to: Almond Hotel, Feeling Home, DYSCOPE design; InnoAds, Magazine la Reine Fashion and Lifestyle, International Institute of Cambodia, Canadia Bank, T&C restaurants, Somarita Restaurant, Naga World, PPMl outdoor advertising, Kambuja Fashion, Societe Concessionnaire des Aeroports, Phibious Advertising Company.

Tickets for the concert are available at Monument Books, T&C outlets, BB World, Pizza World. Exclusive seating 15$; Premium Seating: 10$ and general seating $5.

More about our partners:

MekongBank
MekongBank has been an important member of the Cambodian financial community since 1994. With branches and offices in Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, and Siem Reap, we provide a full range of banking services to businesses and individuals throughout the country. MekongBank was the first financial institution in Cambodia to issue credit cards in its own name and remains a leader in that fast growing sector of the banking business. MekongBank is the exclusive issuer of the American Express Card in Cambodia and the only commercial bank in the country to offer all four major international cards. MekongBank is also a founding member of the Easy Cash domestic ATM network, which provides convenient access to banking services for a large number of Cambodian banking customers.


American Express
American Express Company is a diversified worldwide travel, financial and network services company, founded in 1850. It is a world leader in charge and credit cards, Travelers Checks, travel and business services. Since 1996, American Express has been pursuing a strategy of opening its merchant network and card product portfolio to third party issuers around the world. By leveraging its global infrastructure and the powerful appeal of the brand, American Express has gained even broader reach for its network worldwide. American Express has now established 129 partnerships in 129 markets across the world.

The Recital La Vie en Rose at Topaz went well.


It was two months that we were rehearsing and the songs that we selected were quite different from what we did before. All the songs were about love and we had only a few musicians from our band: Thach and Samnang (Violin), Kiry (guitar), Vatana (Flute), Sreang (Clarinet).


It is a recital after all, not a big band performance. Laurent, a French classical pianist and Dimple, a Nepalese musician, joined us for this adventure.

Laurent helped shape the recital, it was a very classical style interpretation of songs from the Khmer popular repertoire. There were many first times in the recital: Dad adapted the lyrics of La Vie en Rose in Khmer for me to sing; Chab Meas, a favorite song from Sin Sisamout, was adapted in English by my mom and we have performed for the first time Concierto de Aranjuez with five Khmer guitarists. My mom’s friend Rosanna, who is of Spanish culture, said she particularly liked this part of our performance, so I am happy we did well.


Panhlauv was a hit with his drumming and his red "bretelles".

I sang for the first time also a Nepalese song, Phool Kho Angkhana, a prayer song composed and interpreted by a Ani Choying Dolman, a Nepalese nun. I can imagine the infinite landscape of the Everest.

The money we collect will go to grand mother Em Theay and her family. There is Preap, who is Sibxy’s master; Grand mother Em Theay; Naroath, my voice teacher, Narim and Dona, my dance teachers and Naren, my mohori teacher.


We said to them that with the money, they must buy a new flute for Vatana, who has just married Naroath, and is our band leader. He is a flutist and teach flute. Without a flute, he can not be a musician and make money ! I hope also that soon I can go and sleep in their new house. Their old house was burnt down three months ago. Some neighbors burnt some incense sticks in the night and pfuffffff… 16 houses in the neighborhood disappeared. I still can remember the nights I spent there. That’s sad. She is also our “Sombat Cheat” our national treasure. That's why we did this recital.

I think the dinner for the guests went well. The father of Maylis who helped us prepare the event, everybody calls him Papa Alain, created a dish with my name. He asked me what kind of food I liked. I mentioned French cheese, the lobster from Kompong Som, small ricefield shrimps and also salmon and chocolate. He created "Duo de Saumon Bosbapanh" with ginger sauce. The dinner was composed of: Consomme Verdi, Salmon Duo Bosbapanh; Lamb chops with moussaka and desert was a mango and passion mousse with music instruments in chocolate. I am not sure if this dish will ever become as famous as the steak with Kampot pepper but that's just nice to have a dish created for me for this evening.

So what's next ? I still have a month of school. For the summer holidays, we did plan to go to the Nepalese side of the Everest, but it is a mess there, their prime minister resigned and everybody wants to be a chief, we may not be safe in going there. So, we will just stay in Phnom Penh, we have to prepare for my next concert which will be on October 9, 2009. We are not sure if we will do it in Chaktomuk yet, it is too small but we can’t really do elsewhere as there are no concert hall in Phnom Penh.

PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT : FUNDRAISING RECITAL "LA VIE EN ROSE" TO SUPPORT CAMBODIAN ARTISTS
FRIDAY 5TH JUNE 2009 – 7:00 PM

The arts have an amazing capacity to bring people together for altruistic purposes. French restaurant, Topaz, and bosbaPANH, Khmer Coloratura Soprano, age 12, are collaborating to raise funds for Cambodian arts and artists on Friday June 5, 2009 at 7 pm.

The fundraising recital was initiated when bosbaPANH heard about the difficulties facing a family of Cambodian classical artists whose house burned down when fire swept their neighborhood.

To help these artists and promote Cambodian culture, Topaz Restaurant is enthusiastically embracing this project with bosbaPANH. Using the launch of her 2007 Concert VCD, bosbaPANH will give a recital to raise fund to be donated to the Cambodian Foundation for the Arts.

The Cambodian Foundation for the Arts aims at promoting all the arts in Cambodia as well as providing mutual assistance to artists in need. This year, the Foundation will support the family of Em Theay, her daughter Thong Kim An and her grand-daugther Noam Naroath. In late March, these three generations of Ramayana dancers and singers lost everything they had in the fire, including photos of performances and valuable costumes, musical instruments, recordings and sheet music.

Em Theay, 72, has been featured in numerous Cambodian dance books and TV documentaries, and is one of only 10 percent of Royal Court dancers to survive the Khmer Rouge. Between 1975 and 1979, she lost her husband, her three sisters and five of her children. The fire is one more tragedy in her life.

“What’s even sadder,” says bosbapanh, who has been studying Khmer dance with Em Theay and singing with her grand-daugther, Naroath, “is they do not even have the right to rebuild. They don’t have any paper saying they lived on the second floor. They lived there for 20 years. The owners of the flat below are creating all kinds of difficulties to them. This should not happen to people who should be considered as our “National Treasures”.

To help Em Theay and her daughters and launch the Cambodian Foundation for the Arts, bosbapanh. will give a recital of popular Cambodian and international classics. Topaz Restaurant’s Executive Chef Alain Darc will compose an innovative dinner with signature dishes in harmony with the recital.

Accompanying bosbaPANH will be Topaz’s in-house pianist, bosbapanh‘s group of classical musicians and her accomplished younger brother, flutist Panhlauv, age 8.

The concert, which is titled La Vie en Rose is designed to invoke the elegant and tranquil world of Phnom Penh in the 1960’s when it was hailed as the Paris of the East. La Vie en Rose is a 1946 love song by French singer Edith Piaf which has been interpreted by famous artists worldwide from Louis Armstrong to Luciano Pavarotti and Grace Jones. Piaf’s life symbolizes both resilience in the face of adversity and the triumph of talent and love. This is the message of hope that bosbapanh and Topaz management wish to convey in these times of crisis.

The concert will include a range of music from the elegant songs of King Father Sihanouk to traditional mohori Khmer lullabies, eternal songs from an international repertoire and bosbaPANH’s own rendition of La Vie en Rose.

Tickets for the recital and dinner are $100 per person and include a cocktail reception, a gourmet 3-course dinner and wine. All proceeds will be donated to the Cambodian Foundation for the Arts which will help Em Theay and her talented daughters build a new home and hope for a better future … to see “La vie en rose”.

Concert bookings are essential – seating is limited
Topaz Restaurant
182 Norodom boulevard.
Email:manager@topaz-restaurant.com
Ph: 023 221 622; 012 346 555


MORE INFORMATION
Cambodian Foundation for the Arts. The Association is a not-for-profit, non political, cultural and professional organization which aims to promote Cambodian arts and music and to advance the public’s understanding and appreciation of music and the arts. It also aims at providing mutual assistance to artists in need. Presided by Luu Meng, the Foundation was recently established by a group of benefactors from Cambodia and overseas caring about Khmer artists and wishing to promote both classical works and to encourage new creations.

Topaz Restaurant and Piano Bar is Cambodia’s most renowned French restaurant. Opened in 1997, the restaurant has developed a sterling reputation for fine dining through a decade of excellence. Continuing to strive for excellence and accommodate more of its patrons, Topaz relocated in 2007 to a stunning, spacious property at 182 Norodom Boulevard. This custom-built establishment includes a dining room that seats 116, 4 VIP rooms, a terrace under the stars that accommodates 150, a piano bar with a nightly lounge act, a wine cellar boasting 5,000 bottles and Phnom Penh’s only Cuban cigar room. Continuing more than a decade of innovation, Topaz offers authentic but constantly evolving French food in a sophisticated yet pleasant setting. More about Topaz at: www.topaz-restaurant.com
In collaboration with the Cambodian Foundation for the Arts, Topaz is launching a series of regular musical events that will run throughout the year. The fund-raising event La Vie en Rose will be held annually.

My elder brother Sibxy was back for Chinese New Year. They were closing for a month. He came back with long hair, he had not had any haircut since last summer. Last time, he came totally shaved, now his hair so long I thought he was a girl ! Mom sent him to the hairdresser the next day, he could not showed up like this at the recital at Raffles!!

At the beginning, he did not want to take dancing lessons, he said to Mom he wants now to be a writer. The first weeks of his stay, he played only piano, hours of the same exercice. Maybe he also wants to become the next Lang Lang, famous Chinese pianist who lives now in the US. Finally, Dad had to threaten him so he went back to his dancing lessons.


Why did he changed his mind ? He has been dancing since the year of 6. That's so beautiful when he dances.

During his holidays in Phnom Penh, there was some contemporary dance training organized an NGO with the visit of a master dancer from Senegal, Germaine Acogny. Sibxy was not part of the trainees, because you have to be adopted by these NGOs to be invited. But they advertised all the sessions so Dad sent him to watch and see what he can learn. It was a one-week training.

Dad asked him what he learnt. I heard that even though he showed up everyday, nobody asked why he was interested or if he was a dancer or if he would like to become one. Who would go like this for a week, just sit in a corner and observe? I think only dancers would be interested. Sibxy said that actually the organizers came once to talk to him and he felt they wanted him to go away. I don't know why they advertise then. Isn't the training organized to help Cambodian dancers ? Why did they scold my brother who just came to learn?


Sibxy finally resumed his dancing lessons. He has do to a section of the 2009 concert with me, where I sing and he dances. It is based on drums only. He practiced alone with the master from Sovanna Phum, for 3-hours. That's hard work, especially his knees still hurt him.

Even with a t-shirt and the pants he used for his kung fu exercice, that's really nice when he dances. Hope he does not change his mind again when he is back. If we can find a bit of money, Sibxy could maybe go and learn from Germaine, the master dancer from Senegal, and learn drums with Oumar Fandy Diop, who were teaching for this NGO. The choregraphy for Sibxy during the concert is not finalized yet but I know that my dad is very much influenced by Maurice Bejart and Germaine was a student of this French master dancer. Germaine and her husband Helmut have a school called "Ecole des Sables" and it looks so great. The school is In the middle of the savannah with baobabs.

I have just received my new guitar. The one I plays now and which has been chosen by my Chinese teacher Fong Laoshi in Chengdu has a very nice sound but is not electric so in concert or elsewhere, the sound is never rendered properly.
Dad wants a better guitar for the next concert, because I will play the Concierto d'Aranjuez, a classical piece demanding a classical guitar. Teacher Lester advised to look for a Takamine or a Taylor. When we were in Manila, teacher Lester and teacher Glen visited many shops but could not find one that they like. In coming back to Cambodia, we were so lucky that one of my mom's friend, Don, was visiting. He has been playing guitar for something like 40 years and knows a guitar shop in Washington DC from which he was buying since the age of 16. He took the time to look for one for me and selected one from the Taylor Acoustic Electric Nylon series.

Its real name is Taylor NS72CE Grand Concert Cutaway Nylon String Acoustic Electric Guitar. It has the sound of a classical guitar but is connected to an amplifier. The guitar has five kinds of wood to make the sound perfect: Indian Rosewood, Ebony, Red Cedar, Mexican Cypres, Tropical American Mahogany. I never imagined it can be so complicated to make a guitar. Don says this one is a bit expensive but would last until I am 20 or 30 years old.

It took several months to find who can bring it back to Cambodia and a colleague of my mom finally had to carry this huge box with him. Poor him, he had also to carry all kind of stuff for his family members so that was not easy. The pain was worth it. I now rehearse with the Taylor and the sounds is really better than the others. Here a photo with Gilbert, musician at Intercontinental Hotel who teach me how to sing pop music.

This one also was very different from what we did before. We did a one-hour recital at a gala event for the ASEAN members of a federation. This was at the Raffles le Royal of Phnom Penh, a sister place of the Raffles Grand Hotel in Siem Reap.


Dad says we will do more of these as the concert takes so much effort to organize. We are still planning to do a big concert in 2009 with all the musicians of la Compagnie Bosbapanh. It will depend if we can find enough sponsors.


We had two orchestras: the mohori traditional group led by Khru Yun Theara and the Bosba Band (there are more photos of this concert in the Photo Gallery section of the website).

We did a soft launch of my VCD of the 2007 concert. I signed on many VCDs ! My best friend Adelie helped me a lot. I sung Malaysian, Chinese, Pinoy songs so guests were happy to recognize familiar melodies. I was surprised at one point that the guests stood up to dance. It means they were happy. and I was happy to make people happy.


Sibxy, my elder brother just arrived in time to join us. That was the first time he saw me in concert and could join. He plays piano. Gilbert who plays at the Intercontinental Hotel has also joined and played with us.He is teaching me how to sing pop: "Five Hundreds Miles", "the Girl from Ipanema", "Stand by me". That's difficult for me to change from vocalizing Ave Maria to lowering the tone of my voice with a simpler singing that has to match the drums.

This was the first time for me to join with a short recital. That's was just so different, singing here in the middle of the night, open air, I could not see the guests, only the blue and silver decor of the Raffles Grand Hotel.



The setting matches well classical singing. I keep a fond memory of Carlos, the resident pianist of the Raffles Grand Hotel. He was just like an uncle to us and we needed only two rehearsals to get together. He enjoyed playing "Phnom Penh" from King Father Norodom Sihanouk, maybe he likes fox-trott, the song was really lively. We played together several songs with Panhlauv of course.


After that, we were free for the whole evening and we just watched the other performances. The evening was weird, it was New Year's eve but guests seemed to be a bit sad, even though they tried to dance. My mom explained to me: "this is because of the economic crisis. The rich are being hit and can't smile anymore". I don't understand. The best moment of the evening was flying the lanterns at the midnight strike. This was just beautiful. You have to wait a long time for the hot air to fill in the lantern. If you let it go before it does not fly. Finally, mine went really high in the sky, that's my 12th birthday this year. The full cycle.

Do you remember that I went to Manila last summer? Joy Rago has friends who are dentists in the day, and musicians the rest of the time. They perform in Manila every Friday night and play upbeat songs from the 70s like Barry White. The name of the band is "8-tracks" and people in Makati district of Manila go to dance the whole night with them. By chance, they are coming to Cambodia next week and will perform at the Raffles Grand Hotel on New Year's Eve. We will play together so they can see what Cambodian music is and I can try singing Barry White! It will be a lot of fun.
If you pass by Siem Reap, come to see me, I have CDs for you. Happy new year to all of you, I wish you and your family members a lot of happiness, prosperity and good health.

I have been busy these past few months working at school. It is my first year at the college so it is very different from primary school and I want to remain a good student. I did well with an average mark of 16.5 out of 20 for this quarter. My best mark is in English with 19 out of 20 but I did well in French, maths, history and geography as well. Dad is buying me a laptop so that I can work better and go on the internet to prepare my lessons. I did a good presentation of Queen Nefertiti for my history lesson, I studied many websites. So this has not left me much time to do music or go on TV programs. But I did something great this month. I sung at the Australian Embassy for Christmas Celebrations where there were many foreigners and people from embassies. It was the first time really that I sung classical music songs: Ave Maria and Panis Angelicus. These are prayer songs for the catholics and they like to sing these during Christmas time. They are very nice and I saw that many young classical singers start with these songs on their CD. For example Hayley Westenra or Charlotte Church. I like Hayley, she has a very pure voice. The best thing was that I have sung Ave Maria in Khmer. We went to the French Catholic Church near the Japanese bridge et a nun did some translation of it. But nobody ever tried to sing it, there were sections that did not go at all with the music. Narath, my teacher and Dad finalized the lyrics. Many people were afraid that it will not be as nice as singing in Latin. But I think that the audience liked the two versions of Ave Maria. Today is Christmas, I would have liked to sing that prayer song for the Cambodians who are celebrating Christmas tonight at the Church. It would be a nice gift for them to see that we can sing Ave Maria in Khmer as well. Maybe next year. I would like to wish Merry Christmas to all the christians of Cambodia and elsewhere !

I participated to the closing ceremony of QB National Championship Volleyball League. It was at the Olympic Stadium, in the basketball Hall so the sound is not great. I sung the national anthem, Nokor Reach with the military band, we did so much noise in the room that I think the whole stadium heard us. I also played Blowing in the Wind, we adapted a little bit the lyrics for the players. The sportsmen are handicapped but you forget about all that when you see how well they play and their fighting spirit. I saw that everybody was interested in knowing who will win the games. My best friend Adelie was here to help me and we distributed my CDs to the players and some of the VIPs who were there. We had a good time together.

This has been a big week for PANHLauv. He has performed at Art+Foundation & Cafe with his two teachers: Hou laoshi and Anton Isselhardt. PANHLauv played Lian Zhu (Butterfly lovers) and Loeillet. Hou and Anton played Haydn.


The recital was organized to celebrate the meeting of PANHLauv's teachers. Also to mark the end of the visit of Hou Laoshi.


Hou has been visiting us for exactly 48 days, teaching us music everyday, yes, just everyday. We have studied a lot, but we have also traveled to Kep, to Kirirom, to Siem Reap. So we learned and played on the beach or in the middle of the Preah Khan temple. I think PANHLauv is happy of his concert. There was a full-page article in the Phnom Penh post about him.

I have just spent three weeks in Manila to meet with Filipino musicians and to receive a crash course training. My mom thought I was kidding when I told her last April that I would like to go and attend a summer training courses in the Philippines. She said “we don’t know the country, we don’t know anybody, how are we going to organize that?”. She decided that we would go to Burma instead but it was hit by the cyclone. So I asked again “can we go to the Philippines then?”. The reason why I wanted to go to the Philippines is that we see Filipino bands everywhere you go, even when we were in Tibet ! So they must have good music schools.


We were fortunate to meet with HE Lourdes G. Morales, the ambassador of Philippines in Phnom Penh and she helped us out. Consul Tonette Oblena is a musician and graduated from the University of Philippines (U.P.). She talked to Kitchie Molina, who is the chair of the voice department of the College of Music at UP.


Kitchie agreed to organize everything for us. my voice lessons with her, guitar lessons with Lester Demetillo, stage movement with Thea Tadiar and piano with Mita Fernandez.


My brother Panhlauv got flute classes with Tony Maigue and drums lessons with Glenn Velarde.


Everybody is saying that we got the best musicians to coach us : Kitchie is the teacher of teachers in voice; teacher Tony is figured in the book “Best of Philippines” (Panhlauv holds 3 flutes from Tony, among which the yellow one is in real gold!); teacher Lester is considered the best classical guitarist; teacher Glenn is the third generation of drummers. Glenn's father,Tony, is considered a legend as a jazz drummer and his grandfather was a drummer in a big band during the 1920s. To my eyes, they were the best because they taught me so much and gave me their love.

We were staying in a dorm with our parents in U.P. (this was really fun, not the neat hotels where they usually go, we were all four in the same room !) and we had just to cross the road to go to our lessons. We also ate in the university canteen.


I liked the beef tapas (grilled beef with garlic rice, it is so good). My brother counted how many times he went to Jollibee and to Mc Donalds (exactly five times each!). He loves hamburgers and french fries but he knows these are forbidden food. There are a lot of fastfood in Manila.

We did not travel anywhere, everyday was about music lessons. Only the day before we left, Joy Rago – a friend of a friend of a friend !!Joy is like our family now – took my brother and I to the amusement park. She helped me meet with Fides Cuyugan Asuncio, who is a diva. Fides came to Cambodia in 1963 and even got a medal from King Father Norodom Sihanouk.

I also met with Miguel Aguila, who is 13 and is singing pop music. He is already a star, managed by Warner Music. Joy is on the second photo here.

Two days before we left, his father told us that he is now an artist of ABS-CBN, which is the largest TV channel in the Philippines. I don’t understand what it is to be an artist of ABS-CBN but my Dad told me he will be promoted by this channel and he may become very rich. When we met Miguel, he was normal but he is too busy now to go to school. He has special studies at home.

Lindie, who works with Kitchie, arranged also all the studio recordings. I recorded three new songs that Kitchie taught me: “Better World” by Ryan Cayabyab; “Where is love” from the movie “Oliver”; “Sa Ugoy ng Duyan” (a Tagalog lullaby by Lucio San Pedro). I also recorded “Mona Lisa” with Lester at the guitar and two strings to accompany him.
It was grandiose, a real studio, so large that it can accommodate a long piano and a band; at Pink Noise, there are four studios, complicated mixing tables, many computers.
Wow ! when I think of the Phnom Penh studio where I have recorded my two first albums, we have a long way to go ! Nikki from Pink Noise stayed the whole night of his birthday to mix the songs we recorded. In the Philippines they are all serious about their work, and they are always so nice to us. The musicians that Lindie has contacted only rehearse one or two times before the recording and their first shot is always the good one. We had our teachers to play and record as well: Glenn for Better World with Panhlauv (drums); Mita at the piano for Sa Ugoy Ng Duyan; Lester played the guitar version of Sa Ugoy and Mona Lisa. I also went to play in a music pub with Lester, at Bro's Mustache. It was really fun, like a real "troubadour" !

The best thing I like about the Philippines is UP. That’s a real school. The College of Music is full with musicians, they are everywhere and they practise while waiting for their lessons. I wonder if our University of Fine Arts is working in Phnom Penh since it was moved out 10 km far from Phnom Penh. What I can notice is that my Khmer teachers never go there.

Lindie took us to see Pinoy Dream Academy (Kitchie is the headmaster in this program), which is a singing competition on ABS-CBN but also a soap opera because the candidates live together during 90 days and they film you all the time, even when you go the bathroom ! We had a real fun time and I laughed a lot. I also like the Jeepneys, they are very colorful and it costs only 8 Pesos (0.25 dollars) per trip.

We can find one all the time, it’s cheap and they go everywhere. I wonder why we don’t have jeepneys or buses in Cambodia. If we had jeepneys, people won’t have to use their motorbike or pay for expensive moto-taxis, they can take the bus.

I like my Pinoy teachers, I really want to go back every year. My young brother Panhlauv always cry since we are back, he misses Glenn, his drums teacher. One journalist asked me what I brought back from the Philippines. I answered: what I learnt from my teachers and four recorded songs. I forgot also to tell that we have now many friends in the Philippines.

My brother Sibxy Na Panh came to visit us during this Chinese New Year, he studies in Beijing. Each time he comes, he has intensive training to become a real dancer. At the end of his training with Preap, he performed at the National Museum.


I am so proud of him, I always find he is magical when he dances. He is thin but with his kung fu training he is also very strong. So he has the body of a dancer. I took these photos of him, Dad let me borrow his Nikon camera.




I wonder why he goes and studies in China, he should be here with us all the time and master in dance. I miss him so much.

Here that's funny, he does not have any hair because his highschool belongs to the Shaolin Temple so they shave all the students. No wonder why he looks like a monk!

The art of Reamker is fascinating, it is taking him two hours at least to be dressed, all the clothes are sewn on him.

There is a French song called "Que reste-t-il de nos Amours" : what remains from our love. I feel always sad when we go to Angkor Wat and I ask Dad a similar question, what will be left of Angkor Wat.

We went to Siem Reap for a week end. When we go, we only focus on one temple or when it is too large, we would study only one section of it. We did the South Gallery of Angkor Wat last year. That's like a class, Dad prepare all the books: Madeleine Giteau, the books from the National Museum...Panhlauv never wants to help, it's heavy. We take the pencils and paper to draw. We picnic on the grass.

This year we went to Kbal Spean, you know, the sculptures are on the bed of a small river. It was magnificient and set in the middle of the forest.

We did not know we had to climb and walk for 1.5 km! with all the books and camera, it was tough for my elder brother Sibxy who hurt his knees during his Kung Fu training.

The sculptures are so beautiful. But also there are damages to them: the head of Nandin Bull was removed, the heads of the followers. Almost all sculptures in Kbal Spean have been damaged, with fresh traces of removal or just a lack of care.


It belongs to us, to the Khmers! What will remain when I grow up? That's why I feel so sad. Dad says Buddha will punish those who steal. I pray to ask for protection of the Gods of Angkor Wat.

I have just participated to the program "CTN Classic Concert" which is a live music program with songs before 1980. I sang "Khniom Rong Cham - I will wait for you" which is a French song adapted by Sin Sisamouth in the 1960s in Khmer; and a mohori song.


I did not performed with La Compagnie Bosbapanh. There are already two bands : one modern and one mohori, which accompanied all the musicians. I was a bit worried because we never played together but they are so well trained that they read the music sheets and can get exactly what we need.


We were about 6 or 8 singers that morning and they took about two minutes to rehearse with each of us and to get things right. I had a good time, I always like singing in public.

The program is moderated by the talented Youk Chenda and lok kru Meas Sitha. I like her because she is always nice and very serious with the technicians. And they are both making jokes on the stage. We laughed when they ask me questions and lok kru Meas Sitha tried to translated my wishes into Khmer. He did not knew a word of French and just invented something to make the public laugh. The program is really nice.

It was on 31st December 2007, a couple of days after the Grand Concert BosbaPANH at Chaktomuk Hall to Launch SrorMay, the second CD album of BosbaPANH. Mrs Muoy You, a reader of the Cambodia Daily wrote a letter to the editor. Bosba's team was so moved that we are publishing here the full letter. Thank you Muoy You for believing in Bosba and one day, sure we will meet.


"FINDING A MISSING KHMER SPIRIT IN ONE LITTLE SINGER'S MESSAGE.

Hardly a day goes by without some disheartening news to make one wonder where our country is heading. Sure, on the one hand, there seems to be a lot of development going on. Buildings spring up everywhere, more cars and more motorbikes jam the streets, more luxury resorts, sports and goods to keep the rich happy.

But on the other hand, it seems nobody is happy. The rich don’t think they are rich enough; they’ve got to have more – more cars, more land, more mistresses. The powerful don’t think they they are powerful enough; they’ve got to intimidate, insult or ridicule each other. And during that time, some of their children run havoc in the streets in Phnom Penh or on national roads.

This story was not reported in the Cambodia Daily but by an old man, so maybe it is not completely true, but it tells the state of mind of the poor. It seems the son of a three star general, completely drunk drove his car, hit and killed two people, drove on and did some more damage before his car got stuck and he was stopped by the police. The son called his father to the rescue. Twenty-five Land Cruisers came rushing and the general fathe threatened to shoot the policeman if he didn’t release his drunken son. The policeman pointed out the young man had killed two people. “I will pay”cried the general. This is not the first story of its kind I’ve heard which made my heart sink.

Then the other evening I went to the Chaktomuk Conference Hall. And within two hours, hope returned to me. Her name means “Flower”, she is just ten, and she looked and sounded like an angel. Bosbapanh was not born into what is commonly called a powerful family. Their power comes from their intellect, heart and mind. Her uncle is the reknowned filmmaker Rithy Panh, whose work has been an important contribution in preserving the memory of our troubled past. Raised by a Khmer father and a Laotien mother and educated at a French school, Bosba speaks four languages. At an age when other girls would be more interested in clothes and jewelry, she has been to Mount Everest. She wonderfully plays the guitar, has created a music company, launched one album after the other, and last Friday gave a grand concert.

The concert was a happy mix of Khmer and international songs chosen by a surprisingly mature mind for a 10-year old girl. In an hour-and-a-half, Bosba sang of the beauty of Cambodia, love and peace, liberty and freedom and the struggle for it. She rocked the audience with a Khmer lullaby one hardly hears anymore nowadays; she honored the Khmer traditional music and the Khmer reprertoire with a heart rending opening song and towards the end with another one she sang gracefully sitting on the floor in the Khmer way. Her sweet voice, her grace, her calm, the message of her songs would make any parent and any Khmer proud.

In an hour-and-a-half, Bosba has done more for Cambodia and the Cambodian Culture than years of sterile talks. She wil have inspired parents and children alike. With simplicity she has delivered a message: this is the best of Cambodia and this is what Cambodia should be – open to the world but proud of itself. Thank You Bosba. Muoy You, Phnom Penh”