In harmony for the King

THE STANFORD Chamber Chorale – due in Bangkok tonight for a much-anticipated performance – has registered more than 450,000 views for its YouTube video of the Thai royal anthem “San Sern Phra Baramee”.
And the American university choir’s rendition of His Majesty the late King Bhumibol’s song “Sai Fon” has had better than 90,000 views.
Those music videos were uploaded in 2013, and after four years Thais are certainly looking forward to hearing the chorale from California’s Stanford University.
“These foreign students love Thailand and they loved the late King, so they show their respect by performing his songs,” says Dr Nirund Jivasantikarn, founder of the Yonok Foundation, which supports educational, youth and civic causes and is presenting tonight’s concert.
The American-Thai Foundation is footing the bill for the show and two-week tour of the country by the Stanford Chamber Chorale and Stanford Taiko, a student drum and dance ensemble. 
The students arrived on June 20 and have compared musical notes with the Suanplu Chorus and performed at the Holy Rosary Church in Bangkok, at Nation University in Lampang and in Chiang Mai at Payap University and the US Consulate General. 
Tonight it’s back to Bangkok for the free 7pm show at the KBank Siam Pic-Ganesha Theatre. 
The audience can look forward to new arrangements by Eric Tuan of songs composed by the late monarch.
Nirund says the Stanford Chamber Chorale has 24 members – students from first year through doctorate level. Combined with Stanford Taiko, the show features more than 40 performers. 
“In remembrance of His Majesty, this concert series includes performances of six of his songs – to be sung in Thai. These foreign singers from all around the world have been practising to speak Thai with the help of Thai fellow-students and they rehearse the songs all the time, even on the bus and the plane.”
The chorale boasts a range of four tones – females singing soprano and alto, males handling the tenor and baritone. Applied to the late King’s compositions “Kham Laew” (“Lullaby”), “Paendin Khong Rao” (“Alexandra”), “Khwam Fun Un Soong Sud” (“The Impossible Dream”) and “Sai Fon” (“Falling Rain”), the results are glorious.

“The purpose of this concert tour is firstly to present a concert for an audience of Thai people,” says Nirund. “The second aim is to pay homage to both His Majesty the late King and His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, Rama X. 
“The third objective is to commemorate the 184th anniversary of bilateral relations between Thailand and the United States. And the fourth is the exchanging of knowledge and culture with other educational institutions amid field trips to temples, palaces and museums and sampling street food like khao soi, tom yam kung and phad thai.”
Hailed as one of the United States’ premier collegiate ensembles, the Stanford Chamber Chorale is the Stanford Department of Music’s most select choir. The group is dedicated to the performance of music best suited to a small choral ensemble. Its success at home and abroad underscores Stanford’s commitment to music performance and the arts.
Members of the ensemble are drawn from both the graduate and undergraduate populations at Stanford University in California and come from around the world. The singers represent a broad diversity of academic disciplines and degree programmes and meet a demanding schedule of performing, touring and recording. 
The Chamber Chorale regularly performs in the elegant Stanford Memorial Church and the magnificent new Bing Concert Hall. Highly regarded on campus for their artistry and professionalism, the chorale is often tapped to work with visiting performers and has enjoyed successful collaborations with artists including the Kronos Quartet, flamenco guitarist Paco Pena and England’s Tallis Scholars. 
The chorale has had the honour of receiving works and arrangements from distinguished composers such as Kirke Mechem, Paul Crabtree, Jiri Laburda, Takeo Kudo and Howard Helvey, as well as premiering works by Stanford-related composers Christopher Tin, Eric Tuan and Giancarlo Aquilanti.
Stanford Taiko is celebrating 25 years with the current crop of drummers. The members compose their own repertoire, the result of a decision 20 years ago to feature only original pieces. Every year several new ones are premiered.

Taiko, as a percussion genre, has enjoyed popularity around the world, but its incorporation of vernacular jazz, rock, funk and hip-hop contributes to a uniquely “American” fusion of musical styles. 
North American taiko also has foundations in Japanese-American history and is closely tied to the sansei – the third generation of Japanese-Americans who became more socially and politically active in the late 1960s and early ’70s.
Stephen M Sano, who holds master and doctoral degrees in both orchestral and choral conducting from Stanford, directs both the Stanford Chamber Chorale and Stanford Taiko.
Sano has served on the conducting faculty of the Wilkes University Encore Music Festival of Pennsylvania and frequently appears as guest conductor of the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra in its collaborative concerts with the Stanford Symphonic Chorus. 
An accomplished pianist, Sano has won numerous competitions, served as accompanist to many leading artists visiting the San Francisco Bay Area, and as harpsichordist with the International Chamber Orchestra of Rome.
  IT’S FREE TO SEE
- Catch the Stanford Chamber Chorale and Stanford Taiko at the KBank Siam Pic-Ganesha Theatre tonight at 7pm.
- Admission is free. 
- Learn more and reserve seats at www.AmericanThaiFoundation.org or [email protected].
- Watch the chorale sing “San Sern Phra Baramee” at www.YouTube.com/watch?v=EnjAr5QJM9g and “Sai Fon” at www.YouTube.com/watch?v=sgQ9vrdZJUQ.