Dec 19—20, 2017
Bangsokol:A Requiem for Cambodia
RITHY PANH AND HIM SOPHY / FROM CAMBODIA
A stunning and cathartic musical experience created by survivors of the Khmer Rouge.
Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia is an extraordinary new composition fusing music, film, voice and movement. It is the first major symphonic work that addresses the traumas that occurred in Cambodia in the late seventies, and is the first collaboration between the Oscar-nominated director Rithy Panh and lauded composer Him Sophy — both survivors of the Khmer Rouge and now at the forefront of Cambodia’s cultural renaissance. Anchored in “bangsokol” — a ritual for the dead or soon to be deceased — the performance intertwines traditional Khmer instruments with The Metropolis Ensemble orchestra and the Taipei Philharmonic Chamber Choir. All together, they create something innately Cambodian but relatable to audiences everywhere.
Bangsokol is an act of cultural renewal, aiming to return the arts to their place at the heart of Cambodian society. While the world continues to witness new genocides, wars and destruction, Bangsokol urges us to express our scars from the past in order to forge a new path forward.
Info
Venue
Emerson Paramount Center
Robert J. Orchard Stage
559 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111
“An almost dream-like quality to the performance as the collective voices, along with occasional layers of pre-recorded voices and the musical forms grow and fade into sequences.”
“You feel a sense of hope…”
“A highly commendable performance for people of all ages.”
— In Review
“A ‘requiem’ for Cambodian genocide victims wants to help bring ‘Peace to the World.'”
— NBC News
“A ground-breaking composition fusing music, dance, film and vocals”
“It’s art celebrating the fact that life goes on. While we will never forget, we do continue to live.”
— Asia Life
★★★★ “A reassuring light after utter darkness, a promise of resurgence.”
“A moving, cogent experience…a harmonically complex score.”
— The Sydney Harold Times
“Brilliant. The visuals gave form and meaning to the emotive chanting. The combination between West and East art forms was sublime and harmonious. The experience truly came through as a new form of expression; arising from the ashes.”
— The Plus Ones
“With an international cast of musicians, dancers, singers and an Oscar-nominated filmmaker, Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia fuses the traditional Buddhist rite of offering peace to the dead (the Bangsokol), with the Western requiem, which derives from the Latin noun requies, ‘rest’.”
— The Melbourne Festival
“You remember your ancestors who have passed away. But bangsokol also gives hope to people who are still alive … It’s good to not only think about death, but also about the living.”
— The Saturday Paper AU