AsiaLIFE

One of Cambodia’s true wonders will host a celebration of the country’s artistic heritage later this month. Nicky McGavin finds out what is in store.

Bayon Temple will ring to the sounds of an extravaganza of music, song, dance and light as a tribute to the masters of Cambodian arts on Feb. 25 and 26. Featuring over 160 performance artists from Cambodia and abroad, the concerts will be headlined by 13-year-old soprano BosbaPANH and many of what are called Cambodia’s “Living National Treasures”.

These are today’s masters and guardians of Cambodian music, dance and song, many of whom still live in poverty and obscurity. As the present honours the past through these performances, the organisers hope that the funds raised will contribute to financing a foundation for Khmer artists in need, helping to secure the future of Cambodian arts and artists.

Bayon Temple is second only to Angkor Wat in its fame, and the decision to host the concert here was no matter of chance. “It couldn’t be anywhere else,” says Panh Meng Heang, the event’s principal architect and father of BosbaPANH.

The temple was built at the centre of Angkor Thom, the capital of the warrior King Jayavarman VII’s enormous empire, and the concerts take place beneath his watchful eye, as well as those of his second wife Indradevi whose likeness is carved into the temple stone. A renowned poet, Indradevi is considered by many to be the first patron of Cambodian arts.

She is just one of the past masters that will be honoured at the concerts. Others include the legendary 60s singers Sin Sisamouth and Ros Sereysothea, whose ballad Champei Siem Reap will be performed by Bosbapanh. Sisamouth, the “King of Khmer Music”, reigned over the so called golden years of the 1960s, producing a unique blend of Khmer traditional music with western music forms such as rock and rhythm. His music is still hugely popular today.

The event’s organisers are thrilled that compositions by the Khmer-American composer Ung Chinary will be performed. “He is not just the only Cambodian to have won the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition,” says Meng Heang, “he’s the first American to have done so too.” The award is considered to be on a par with the Nobel Prize for Literature.

The native of Takeo, who left Cambodia in 1964, combines Cambodian traditions with western musical styles and instruments. His music has been described as “colourful, full of invention, rife with a sense of individuality”. The composer himself notes that: “if East is yellow and west is blue, then my music is green”.

Two of his pieces will be performed by the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble. This avant garde group is a chamber ensemble consisting of seven classical musicians. While the words classical and chamber might make you think of stuffy old Georgians, this group sounds anything but stiff. Last year, they surprised crowds at a Hong Kong shopping mall with a performance in which they replaced their cellos and clarinets with carrots and coconuts, for a performance that pushed the boundaries of experimentation.

The international tone doesn’t stop there. From France, jazz musician Jean Marc Padovani is another risk taker whose music cages the anarchic style of jazz within the stricter measures of Asian musical styles to acclaimed effect.

Sarah O’Brien is a British composer and cellist who has collaborated with big names as diverse as ELO, Yanni, Celine Dion and Ozzi Osbourne. O’Brien composed last year’s musical production ‘Winds of Angkor’, which starred Bosbapanh, and has composed a piece especially for the child prodigy called ‘Footsteps’ that uses her agile voice to invoke the ancient masters to guide the singer on her journey.

Citing Lauryn Hill and Amy Winehouse amongst their influences , Laura Mam and the Like Me’s will add a rocky dimension to the evenings’ performances. The American band has received critical acclaim, with particular reference to Mam’s “honey” voice.

Masters of the pinpeat and mohori ensembles, Cambodia’s own living national treasures, Yun Theara, Soy Sareth and Proeung Pron, will all be there. The accompaniment for religious ceremonies, court dances and plays, the pinpeat orchestral form dates back centuries, and pinpeat instruments played by celestial dancers are carved into the walls of Angkor Wat.

Marking time in the orchestra, Em Theay is one of the “One In Ten” dancers to survive the Khmer Rouge period. Now 78, she no longer dances but she will be watching while her daughter and grand-daughter perform a dance from the Ramayana. Her grand-daughter, Nam Narim, will also present a contemporary dance piece that she choreographed herself.

Tickets for the Feb. 25 concert (includes a gourmet prepared by leading Cambodian chef Luu Meng) cost US$80 to US$100, while for the Feb. 26 concert, tickets range from US$2.50 to US$10. Both evenings start at 6pm. Tickets are available from Monument Book Stores, the McDermott Galleries, Lucky stores, T & C Restaurants, Café Sentiment, Malis Restaurant and Yi Sang Restaurant.