To mark the 40th year of Asean-Japan friendship and cooperation, the Japan Foundation presents the "Drums & Voices" concert tour, which will be performed in the Asean region this month and next.
Drums & Voices will perform at the National Theatre in Bangkok on Nov 1 at 7pm.
An orchestra of 12 traditional musicians from seven countries _ Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Brunei and Japan _ was founded early this year.
A four-week intensive workshop was held in Thailand and Vietnam a few months ago for the musicians to compose original music for this concert tour. The troupe includes two musicians from Thailand _ Tossaporn Tassana on ranad ek (high-pitched xylophone) and Chris Descamps (vocals) from the Shining Star band.
The Asean tour will visit six countries, with the first stop in Vietnam on Oct 17-18. It will proceed to Cambodia on Oct 22-23, Myanmar on Oct 25 and 27, Thailand on Nov 1, Laos on Nov 4 and Brunei on Nov 23. A finale will be held in Tokyo on Dec 18.
The musical director of the new orchestra is Michiru Oshima, a famous composer of movie, anime and TV programme soundtracks. She is joined by wadaiko (Japanese drum) player Tsubasa Hori, a former member of Kodo, a Japanese drumming ensemble.
Thai audiences will have the chance to experience the pulsing percussion, haunting vocals and hypnotic chants when Drums & Voices will give a performance at the Bangkok National Theatre on Rachini Road on Nov 1 starting at 7pm.
There is no admission fee, but reservations are required by calling 02-260-8560_4 or emailing drums.voices@jfbkk.or.th
Email nojima@jfbkk.or.th (Japanese) and duangrudee@jfbkk.or.th (Thai).
