Even though the devastating flood that hit Chiang Mai on
August 14-15 closed Payap University’s music school, the show went on
several nights later as two American musicians performed “An Evening of
American Music” with a student choir at the University’s Luce Chapel on
August 18.
Ira
Spaulding leads in the singing of the highlight song, “It Ain’t
Necessarily So” while conducting the Payap choir in the second half for
excerpts from Gershwin’s folk opera “Porgy and Bess.”
Pianist John Ferguson and baritone/choral conductor Ira
Spaulding arrived in Chiang Mai on Monday, August 15, planning to begin
training the Payap University choir that evening for the performance on
Thursday. Sponsored by the U.S. Consulate General through the American
Voices Foundation, the concert covered American traditional and Broadway
music and excerpts from George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess”. Payap’s
choir accompanied the two guest musicians for the second half of the
performance. With the music school still under water on Monday, however, the
first rehearsal had to be abandoned, reducing by one-third the practice time
available for the choir.
As Payap University President Dr. Boonthong Pucharoen and
Consul General Beatrice Camp noted in their opening remarks, this was the
third musical performance in as many months jointly organized by the US
Consulate General and Payap University. CG Camp explained that this American
Voices concert took the cooperation to an even deeper level by providing an
educational component as well as performance. The enthusiasm of the students
for their visiting teachers came through in the clapping, stamping, and
whistles that greeted the entrance of John Ferguson and Ira Spaulding.
Despite the truncated rehearsal schedule, the American visitors had clearly
had an electrifying effect on the 70 students they trained and performed
with.
American
Voices musicians, John Ferguson and Ira Spaulding, U.S. CG Camp, Payap
President Dr. Boonthong, Ajarn Ayu Namthep, and Payap Choir - as many
members as a picture frame can hold.
During the second half of the concert the Payap choir
joined John Ferguson and Ira Spaulding onstage for gospel songs and excerpts
from “Porgy and Bess”. In the highlight song “It Ain’t Necessarily
So”, Ira Spaulding sang, shouted, whispered, strutted and mugged at the
front of the stage while simultaneously conducting the choir. The Payap
singers followed suit, grinning at their own antics as they shook their
hands in gospel gestures and imitated the gerontological movements of
Methuselah. At the concert’s end they led the standing ovation before
gathering around the two guest musicians for farewell photos and thanks.
After the concert, Ajarn Bringkop, the head of Payap’s
music department shook his head in disbelief at his choir’s outstanding
performance. Pointing out that some of the singers are still first semester
freshman, he called the event “an incredibly powerful synchronization”
between the American artists and Thai music students. President Boonthong
beamed with pride over the Payap performance, while the students themselves
pleaded for more such opportunities in the future.
During a week in which most Chiang Mai residents were occupied with the
aftermath of a once-in-a-lifetime flood, American musicians John Ferguson
and Ira Spalding managed to bring focus and fun to Chiang Mai music teachers
and students while introducing them to a type of music and a style of
singing well beyond their usual experience.
Robert
Tilley from the Writers Club and Wine Bar, Souvannabhumi Art Gallery owner
Mar Mar, and cartoonist Harn Lay chat about the new exhibition.
The
painting Cat was banned in Burma (Myanmar) for political reasons.