Naresuan Composers Prepare for Friendship Concert with Chiang Rai Youth Orchestra
Young local musicians to play alongside world stars
World-famous composers and conductors Bill Connor and Richard Harvey are welcomed to the Dusit Island, Chiang Rai, by the resort’s general manager, Mana Chanhorm, and Paramet Lerdkasem, founder of the Chiang Rai Youth Orchestra.
The English composers of the music for Thailand’s epic Naresuan movies have arrived in Chiang Rai for a week of master classes and rehearsals leading up to a free Friendship Concert on Saturday in the beautiful surroundings of the Dusit Island Resort.
Richard Harvey and Bill Connor will be working closely with the violinists and other string players of the Chiang Rai Youth Orchestra, who will be the real stars of this unique concert.
The CRYO is the only orchestra of its kind outside Bangkok. It includes nearly 60 youngsters from six years old to 25 and has been built up over more than ten years through the tireless enthusiasm of its founder and conductor, karate champion and music lover Paramet Lerdkasem.
Also taking part in this week’s daily music workshops will be the members of the all-female London-based string quartet, Sixteen Wires, led by 25-year-old Susie Gillis. They will teach and advise the Chiang Rai youngsters and play alongside them in Saturday’s Friendship Concert.
Richard Harvey has been the main composer for all the Naresuan films and has written music for many UK and Hollywood movies, including The Da Vinci Code. He lives in Sattahip, south of Bangkok, with his Thai wife, Chamnongchit.
Between them, Richard Harvey and Bill Connor have conducted dozens of major European orchestras and worked with everyone from Georg Solti, Kiri te Kanawa and John Williams to Sir Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton.
“This is the finest youth orchestra in Northern Thailand – probably anywhere outside Bangkok,” says Richard Harvey. “And it owes everything to the inspiration and energy of Khun Paramet.”
The Friendship Concert is presented by the Chiang Rai Youth Orchestra, the Siam Chamber Orchestra Foundation and the MAE Foundation, a British-based charity that focuses on helping young people in Thailand to learn and play music.
The organisers have agreed that Saturday’s concert will feature a one-minute silence period, out of respect for all those who have suffered in Thailand’s recent and devastating floods.
Richard Harvey’s next conducting performance, at the end of November, will be a grand concert in Bangkok in honour of the birthday of His Majesty King Bhumipol Adulyadej. It will be attended by Her Majesty Queen Sirikit and will feature a handpicked 70-piece international orchestra and chorus, with a roll call of leading soloists flown in from around the world. For further information, in English or Thai, call: 086 7325 292
Not often does our community get to experience world class classical concerts in our town and when these chances occur, you can be sure that these events are received with open arms.
Such was the classical concert under the name “The Sublime art of the Viola” featuring two violists from Chicago, Roger Chase and Yukiko Ogura, as well as Jun Komatsu on pianoforte, and the famous Richard Harvey on clarinet, which took place at the Silver Lake Vineyard on the 2nd of December 2011.
Roger Chase.
The packed audience was captivated by the beautiful musical pieces, including Sonata number 1 E flat Opus 20 non. 2 by Johannes Brahms, followed by Frank Bridge’s Lament of the two violas played by Roger Chase and Yukiko Ogura, and Berceuse for viola and piano by Gabriel Faure.
And before the interval, Richard Harvey on clarinet, Jun Komatsu and Yukiko Ogura brought out the beautiful sounds for Two Pieces for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano Opus 83 by Max Bruch.
A few more glasses of wine and a break later, Praeludiam and Allegro in the style of Pugnani Fritz Kreisler commenced, followed by Four Duos by Bela Bartok, played by Roger Chase and Yuiko Oguras on violas.
The highlight and the finale of the program was the sublime Kegelstatt trio KV 498 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for viola, clarinet and pianoforte, enchantingly played by the four artists.
The fund raising musical evening ended with a presentation of a viola by Roger and Yukiko to Witaya Tumornsootnorn, representing the Chiang Rai Youth Orchestra, as a gift from the MAE foundation. (For more information, go to www. maefoundation.org.uk.)
Check with the Pattaya Mail on a regular basis for details of up-coming concerts at Silver Lake.
Yukiko Ogura.
Jun Komatsu plays pianoforte.
Su K (left) talks to violists Yukiko Ogura.
A packed audience awaits the concert at Silver Lake.
Twilight in Chiang Rai – a Musical Lesson from Which to Learn
Chiang Mai Mail Vol. X No.18-December 1-December 31. 2011
By Jai Pee
What is it that makes music so very special to people? Is it melody, orchestration, harmony, counterpoint – or some combination of all these and more? Many people would say it varies from person to person and that would be my view. But when you are sitting in a delightful verdant glade surrounded by tall proud trees, flowering bushes and dancing lights and you see 40 young people walk on to the stage clutching their violins, violas, cellos and double basses in such a setting, something greater than those facets listed above is at work. Young people cannot play many of those instruments perfectly but their sheer determination, concentration and love of what they are doing all add different dimensions to any prescribed musical formula. And on Saturday December 17th an intrepid group of Friends of Music Making in Chiang Mai made the 190 kilometre trip to support and encourage those young people who have set off on their musical journeys to who knows where.
The musical experiences were wide-ranging and the luxuriant surroundings of the delightful Villa Darakorn with its 300 varieties of flowering shrubs, bushes and trees added immensely to the overall ambience there. With three conductors – regular resident Paramet Lerdkasem, young Kah Chun Wong from Singapore and an even younger Tanapat Thanandorn – plus soloists Judith Utley on harp and Stella Tai, a powerful soprano, the strains of melodies by Mozart or Handel, traditional Chinese songs and a melody by His Majesty the King, the large audience settled down to an evening of great pleasure. For these young performers and for those who have worked so hard to support them thus far, such a concert will remain in their hearts and minds for many years to come. For many in the audience, the evening will also be one to cherish. This enjoyment was enhanced by the way the owners of the Villa, Suphavit Piamphongsant, his wife and their son welcomed guests to this annual event with cordiality and smiles. In attendance was program manager Witaya Tumornsoontorn, now adviser to the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, who for over 30 years has been encouraging the development of musical appreciation in Thailand. After hearing the way that these young musicians gave of their best he must be relieved and satisfied to know that live musical performance has a secure future throughout the Kingdom. And the lesson we all can learn is that with endeavor and adult encouragement, there will eventually be success – and to have been a part of that gives greater meaning to spending half a day and a twilight concert in Chiang Rai.
All proceeds from this annual event are being sent to Children in Need in Northern Thailand.
Roger Chase.
Yukiko Ogura.
Jun Komatsu plays pianoforte.
Su K (left) talks to violists Yukiko Ogura.
A packed audience awaits the concert at Silver Lake.
