An evening to remember!
LA FETE has concocted an exceptional concert to celebrate the 100thAnniversary of Alliance française de Bangkok.
BSO musicians will be performed a choir of 100 students specially gathered for this occasion on the beautiful stage of Thailand’s National Theatre. Together, they will pay tribute to the French repertoire of the early 20thcentury. Is there a better occasion than the celebration of an anniversary to assemble French and Thai professionals along with students?
Jean-Paul Penin (Conductor) holds a Ph. D. in Biophysics, and also studied music in Strasburg, Paris, and San Francisco. He won the Young Directors’ International Competition in Tokyo; he assisted Alain Lombard in Strasburg, and Lorin Maazel in Vienna. From 1990, he was a permanent guest Director of the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Krakow. He directed Olivier Messiaen’s La Ville d'en haut live on Dutch television in the presence of the composer; after Pierre Boulez performed it, it was only the second time that this piece for piano and orchestra was ever played. Under the aegis of UNESCO and the French Presidency, he was given the exclusive commission by Éditions Bärenreiter to re-create Berlioz’s Messe Solennelle, after the manuscript was found, and he did the first ever recording of this opus for the public broadcasting station France Musique and for France Television. As director of the Czech National Radio Orchestra, he conducted the opening concert of the Dvořák Festival when Prague was Cultural Capital of Europe (2000). In 2002, one of his concerts with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Dresden was broadcast live in 24 different countries.
Henri Pompidor (Choir master) holds a Ph.D. in Music (Paris IV-Sorbonne). In 1997, he became the Choir master of the Franco-Greek Choir and toured Europe with them until 2003. The following year, he was appointed Director of the Department of Choral Music at Rangsit University (Thailand). A year later, he joined the Faculty of Music at Mahidol where he teaches choir-singing and is the Choir master for the University’s various choirs; he is also permanent Director of Thailand’s Philharmonic Orchestra Choir. Since 2004, Henri Pompidor has directed various university or professional choir formations in concerts in Thailand and in South-East Asia.
The Inter-Universities Choir was specially created by LA FETE and Henri Pompidor to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Alliance française de Bangkok; it is made up of 100 singers students from various universities in Thailand.
The Bangkok Symphony Orchestra is placed under the patronage of His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn. It has been acknowledged as the most prestigious orchestra in the Kingdom of Thailand after its opening concert at the 13th Asian games in Bangkok in 1998. A veritable "cultural ambassador" of Thailand, the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra has a large repertory of classical and contemporary music and plays a significant role in preserving and highlighting Thailand’s musical heritage as illustrated by its recordings of Thai classical music and compositions inspired by the Buddhist traditions in honor of His Majesty the King, Through the years and in the course of meetings with other artists, the 70 professional musicians of the BSO have had the opportunity to develop their talent as they have worked with some of the best conductors such as Loris Tjeknavorian, Takuo Yuasa, Massimo Paris, Paul Nadler, Zheng Xiaoying, Michaël Cousteau, Alain Pâris, Roberto Benzi, and great soloists such as Peter Donohoe, Anthony Camden, Dang Thai Son and Karen Vourc’h.
