Boston University Global Music Concert Series presents Visions of Angkor: Music and Dance from Cambodia and its Diaspora
Concert and panel discussion featuring virtuoso musicians from Cambodia alongside the Angkor Dance Troupe from Lowell, MA – April 20th, 2016
GMCS presents a rare opportunity to encounter artistic traditions that were nearly obliterated during the 1975–79 Khmer Rouge regime. At the concert, Cambodian virtuoso musicians Nhok Sinat and Yim Chanthy will perform music drawn from classical, folk, wedding, and Buddhist ritual repertories. The renowned Angkor Dance Troupe from Lowell, MA (home to the second-largest Cambodian population in the U.S.), will perform Cambodian folk dance as well as the classical Aspara style, cited by UNESCO as one of the world’s pieces of “intangible cultural heritage.” Providing an opportunity for these talented young Cambodian musicians and Cambodian-American dancers to collaborate in Boston, this event aspires to help build energy around the global resurgence of Cambodian arts. Don’t miss this opportunity to witness Cambodian arts at their finest!
Part of the Global Music Concert Series, Visions of Angkor is sponsored by the Karbank Fund for World Music, BU Arts Initiative, Department of Musicology and Ethnomusicology (CFA), Cinema & Media Studies Department (COM), African Studies Center, and Department of Anthropology (CAS).
WHEN
Wednesday, April 20th | 12–1pm | Concert Hall
Pre-concert talk by Jeff Dyer and Emily Howe
Post-Concert Discussion | 2pm–3:30pm | CFA, Room 167
Community Engagement and the Arts in Post-Conflict Settings
At the panel discussion, musicians will dialogue with community leaders and scholars about their wide-ranging experiences practicing, teaching, and advocating for the arts in various post-conflict settings. By exploring issues of memory, heritage, and the arts in Cambodia and its diaspora as a case study, this panel aims to highlight the voices and experiences of people who have historically been silenced and marginalized by war, genocide, and economic hardship. We then seek to understand how the policies and priorities of institutions such as schools, universities, nonprofit organizations, the government, and granting agencies interact in the development of Cambodian arts sectors in Cambodia and in diaspora.
VENUE
CFA Concert Hall & Room 167
855 Commonwealth Avenue
TICKETS
Free and Open to the Public
About Nhok Sinat and Yim Chanthy’s New England Performances
In conjunction with their concert at Boston University, Nhok Sinat and Yim Chanthy will perform at a number of events in New England. Events include:
• Saturday, April 9 @ noon: Khmer Wat Lowell’s Cambodian New Year Celebration.
Free Admission
• Saturday, April 23 @ 2pm: Performance in support of the Khmer Magic Music Bus at the Lowell Senior Center. Free Admission
• Sunday, April 24 @ 2pm: Fall River Showcase Concert at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Fall River. Tickets: $10.
About the Angkor Dance Troupe
In 1986, Tim Thou and a group of Cambodian refugees with a passion for Khmer performing arts came together in Lowell, Massachusetts, with the sole purpose of reviving a culture once almost lost. Today, the Angkor Dance Troupe strives to connect communities through the preservation, education, and innovation of Cambodian performing arts, educating 400 students each year and performing for audiences throughout the Northeast. As the heart of the Cambodian community, the Angkor Dance Troupe is nationally recognized as one of the most accomplished and experienced U.S.-based Cambodian traditional arts organizations. The troupe has performed at the White House, the All-America City Competition in Philadelphia, and the First Night celebration in Boston, and was the subject of Julie Mallozzi’s documentary Monkey Dance.
About the Boston University University’s Global Music Lunchtime Concert Series
The Global Music Lunchtime Concert Series, organized by the Department of Musicology and Ethnomusicology, showcases musicians, dancers, and performing artists steeped in folkloric, traditional, vernacular, and most popular music from the world over. The series aims to provide students and faculty with opportunities to explore diverse musical practices from the world over. Accompanied by lectures or workshops whenever possible, this concert series will offer the audience intellectual insights and hands-on experiences in selected performing arts from various parts of the globe.