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News and Events : News 03-04
Press Release
April 13, 2004
Note: The public is invited to attend this event. It begins at 2 pm and
will be held in the Auditorium on the Northfield campus.
Playing for Peace: Cambodian-American Peace Activist and Musicians Visit NMH
NORTHFIELD, Mass.—On April 19, Arn Chorn-Pond, internationally known
human-rights activist and survivor of Cambodia’s killing fields, will
speak to the Northfield Mount Hermon community. The program will include
music by Seasia, a group of three young Cambodian-American men who fuse
traditional Cambodian music with hip-hop.
Chorn-Pond won the Reebok Human Rights Award and founded Children of War,
an organization that helps young war victims recover from trauma. He has
spoken around the world on behalf of Amnesty International and is the
subject of a 2003 documentary, The Flute Player, which aired on the PBS
series Point of View. In 1996 he founded the Cambodian Master Performers
Program (CMPP), which preserves the traditional music of his homeland by
recording aging master musicians and enlisting them as teachers.
Music saved Chorn-Pond’s life when the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in
1975. Nine years old, he was sent to a children’s slave camp where
prisoners were killed daily. He survived by learning to play the khim, a
dulcimer instrument. He and five fellow musicians entertained the soldiers
nightly, thus staying their own executions. Eventually Chorn-Pond fled to
Thailand and was adopted by an American couple. He attended NMH and
graduated in 1986.
At the event, Chorn-Pond will discuss his reactions to the Cambodian
holocaust and other international conflicts, as well as his work with
CMPP. He will also introduce Seasia, which has collaborated with Cambodian
master performers.
Seasia (pronounced see-AH-sha) stands for South East Asia. The group
formed in 1995 and is made up of Tony Ayeth Roun, Felix Sros Khut, and
Sambath “Sideburn” Hy. They met Chorn-Pond six years ago in their home
city of Lowell, Massachusetts, where he’s worked with Cambodian-American
gangs.
Chorn-Pond exposed the band members to classical Cambodian music, and they
began to integrate it in their work. In 2001, with money advanced by CMPP,
Seasia made their first trip as adults to Cambodia. Their vision is to be
a voice for world peace through music, using it to express and explore the
pain they’ve witnessed in Cambodia and in the streets of Lowell.
At NMH, they’ll perform three song-dance numbers and will speak briefly
about their work with Cambodian masters. They’ll sing “Imagine” by John
Lennon, which they performed live at Amnesty International’s 2003 annual
meeting, as well as two songs of their own creation.
A question-and-answer session moderated by Chorn-Pond will follow. A
reception will be held from 3:30 to 4:30 pm in the Green Room of the
Auditorium. Chorn-Pond and all members of Seasia will be available at the
reception.
Contact: Mary Seymour, 413-498-3247
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