Strings for His Majesty

The 85-piece Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra is off to New Zealand next week to perform three shows next week in celebration of the golden jubilee of His Majesty the King of Thailand’s visit to the “Land of the Long White Cloud”.

“We are trying to get away from the purely Asian side of Thai culture and are therefore not presenting through muay thai, traditional Thai dance or khon [masked dance]. Instead, we will be showing the New Zealand people that Thai musicians are every bit as talented as their Western counterparts and we will also be honouring our monarch’s natural musical abilities by playing some of his compositions,” says Noppadon Theppitak, ambassador of Thailand to New Zealand, Tonga and Samoa. 

The TPO’s string section will be performing at a gala dinner at Parliament House in Wellington on Monday night. That’s followed by a concert by the entire orchestra at King’s College in the city on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, the philharmonic orchestra will be at the ASB Theatre in Auckland’s Aotearoa Centre.

“Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Kittiratt Na Ranong told me that the TPO has two missions: to help build up international relations and to thank the many countries that provided help to Thailand’s flood victims,” says Assoc Prof Dr Sugree Charoensook, dean of the College of Music at Mahidol University, who is in charge of the TPO.

Dr Sugree adds that the orchestra will present such Thai songs as “Sri Ayuthaya”, a selection of royal compositions including “Blue Day” and a classical programme featuring works by Rachmaninoff and Mendelssohn.

Guest artists include piano soloists Kwanchanok Pongpairoj and Sek Thongsuwan, saxophonist Krit buranawittayawut and jazz vocalist Cherryl J Hayes. Major Prateep Supanroj is the conductor.

“We will showcase our performance of classical music,” says Dr Sugree. “And we will also surprise the New Zealanders with ‘Lord of the Rings’.”

Dr Suchart Wongthong will paint his watercolours to the accompaniment of the classical music at both the ASB Theatre in Auckland and King’s College in Wellington.

A photo exhibition of His Majesty the King touring New Zealand between August 18 and 26, 1962 will also be shown, with images of his stops in Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin and Christchurch.

“The exhibition also features the menus of the royal couple,” Noppadon says. “New Zealanders knew little about Asia 50 years ago but did their best to come up with food that would please. The menu included ‘Pavlova’, a meringue dessert with a crisp crust and soft, light inside. The nationality of its creator has long been a source of argument between New Zealand and Australia.

“These days, Thai food is very popular in New Zealand with more than 350 Thai restaurants around the country. Thanks to the Thai government’s ‘Thai Kitchen to the World’ policy, New Zealanders know that Thai food is good for the health. We tell them that research has shown that the herbs and other ingredients used in tom yam goong help harness the immune system to fight cancer. But beef massaman beef curry is still the most popular Thai dish!”

The Thai ambassador says that the audience for the concerts will be made up of government officers, businessmen, the diplomatic corps and Thais living in New Zealand.