To celebrate the 180th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Thailand and the US, the Yonok Foundation and the American-Thai Foundation are staging a concert by the Stanford Chamber Chorale plus a sensational performance by Stanford Taiko, an ensemble of student drummers from the same university.
The Chorale comprises 24 voices drawn from both graduates and undergraduates of this prestigious college in Stanford, California.
Hailing from across the US and around the world, these singers represent a variety of academic disciplines and degree programmes. The Chorale has toured the US and given recitals in countries including England, Austria, Germany, Israel, Italy, France and China. It has also worked with world-class artists and Grammy Award-winning composers like Christopher Tin.
For Thailand, the Chorale has put together a programme that will include special pieces in honour of HM the King as well as one of His Majesty's own compositions, Sai Fon.
Founded in 1992, Stanford Taiko was one of the first collegiate groups in North America to champion this energetic art form which originated in Japan. Currently made up of 14 members, it has given impressive drum performances for commencement ceremonies at its alma mater and has been invited to perform in other universities and abroad.
The two ensembles will perform at several venues across the Kingdom, beginning in Bangkok tonight (7pm, Siam Society) with a second concert at the Aksara Theatre (8/1 Rangnam Road, Phaya Thai) on Friday (7pm start), followed by a 2pm matinee the next day at CentralWorld. Further performances will be given in Chon Buri (June 2, 5pm, Central Festival shopping centre), Lampang (June 26, 6pm, Central Plaza), Chiang Mai (June 27, 5pm, US consulate-general) and Chiang Rai (June 30, 6pm, Central Plaza).
Admission to all of the performances, except for the one-hour concert hosted by the Siam Society, is free.
For more information, call 02-615-9778 or 02-615-9763.
