| The
fourth Thailand International Composers Festival brings together
some of the finest Thai composers
 The
IV Thailand International Composition Festival, organised by
Thai composer Narong
Prangcharoen, brought together composers from around the
world. Importantly, it was a gathering of Thai composers young
and old, and it was the presence of a new generation of young
composers and the budding crop of student composers that signalled
that the Thai new music scene is set to grow from strength to
strength.
A detailed report by CH Loh on the festival was published by
Off The Edge October 2008 issue. Malaysian
Art Radio brings you a sampling of music by four composers
from new generation Bangkok, some of which were performed at
the Festival in Bangsaen, and others provided by Rangsit Conservatory
of Music and by Anothai Nitibhon from her personal portfolio.
Their bios are provided courtesy of Narong Prangcharoen and
the respective composers. Here are some excerpts in alphabetical
order:
Anothai Nitibhon
 A
composer and pianist, Nitibhon was born in 1978 in Bangkok.
In 2000 sfter completing her bachelor degree in Music Education
in Thailand, she received the Award of Outstanding Youth in
Arts and Culture from the National Youth Bureau, Office of the
Prime Minister, Thailand, for her contribution as a young composer.
Nitibhon continued her studies in the Master programme in Music
Composition at the University of Edinburgh under Professor Nigel
Osborne. In 2002, she graduated with a Master Degree and was
awarded a distinction for her major work 'Manohra'. She has
then been awarded the Overseas Research Students Award and a
scholarship from Edinburgh University to continue her study
for a PhD in Music Composition with Professor Nigel Osborne
and recently obtain her PhD in Composition in May 2007.
Working on the cultural front, Nitibhon bases her musical research
on the idea of intercultural dialogue amongst different countries.
Her compositions have been performed in concerts and festivals
by various orchestras and ensembles in the UK, Germany, France,
Bosnia Herzegovina, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Thailand and USA.
Her work for string quartet and double bass 'Dukkha' has been
recorded by the Edinburgh Quartet and is now released on CD.
She has also been selected to participate in the Voix Nouvelles
composition course with Brian Ferneyhough, supported by the
Royaumont Foundation.
Alongside her studies in composition, Anothai is intensively
involved in music, educational and creativity work in the UK
and overseas. Her contributions in the UK brought her the International
Student Awards, a national awards scheme run by the British
Council in 2005.
Nitibhon is now a full-time lecturer at the Faculty of Music,
Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand and a part-time lecture
in composition at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.
Boonrut Sirirattanapan
 Sirirattanapan
works in electronic composition, film music and experimental
theatre music. He studied with Bruce Gaston of the Fong Naam
Ensemble then became a member of the group as a composer and
keyboardist. In 1999, after playing with the Korphai Ensemble
for several times, he became a member of the group as a composer
and musician.
He has produced numerous works such as the video sountrack
score for the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) 2003
delegation in Bangkok, his Thai-electronic piece "Pheesua-Samut"
which he conducted with the Korphai ensemble at Konzerthaus
Wien in Austria (2003), music for the opening/closing ceremonies
of Thailand's "National Sport Games" (2001-2005),
and many incidental pieces for the Patravadi Theatre stage &
TV performances since 2001.
His latest opuses include "Steps to unmasking" for
voice, microphones and Max/MSP(2005), "Paroidia 1"
for Saxophone Quartet (2006), "Watta: Annop Chansuta in
memoriam" for Saxophone player, 4 percussionists and DAWs
(2007) and "Saffron Number" (2008) to commemorate
the massacre of Burmese monks and the people in Myanmar by the
governing junta.
Sirirattanapan is currently a composition lecturer at Conservatory
of Music, Rangsit University.
Denny Euprasert
 Denny
Euprasert started his musical training at Bangkok Christian
College, Yamaha Music School, and Interlake High School, Bellevue,
Washington, USA. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in
Jazz Piano Performance from Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle,
Washington, a Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies from University
of North Texas, and a Doctor of Arts degree in Music Theory
and Composition with a secondary emphasis in Jazz Pedagogy from
University of Northern Colorado, USA - the only Thai to receive
a doctorate in jazz.
Having performed with international jazz artists such as David
Liebman, Nicholas Payton, Maria Schneider, Bob Brookmeyer, Deborah
Brown, Kenny Wheeler, and Mike Stern, he also received numerous
jazz awards and scholarships including Louis Armstrong Jazz
Award, IAJE Outstanding Piano Soloist Award from San Diego City
College Jazz Festival and Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, Jacobsen
Scholarships and Music Department Merit Scholarship from Cornish
College of the Arts, Jazz Studies Scholarship from University
of North Texas, IAJE Outstanding Musicianship Award from Wichita
Jazz Festival and Greeley Jazz Festival, Del Dykins Composition
Award, and the Downbeat Student Awards.
He has composed numerous works for piano solo, piano and orchestra,
chamber groups, chorus, jazz ensemble, jazz orchestra, voice
and piano, and contemporary media, including popular music.
Euprasert is currently the Dean of Rangsit University Conservatory
of Music and the conductor of Rangsit Philharmonic Orchestra.
Jiradej Sathaparn
 Jiradej
Sathaparn studied music with Bruce Gaston at Chulalongkorn University
and worked as a guitarist and composer with the Fong Nam Ensemble.
In 1993 he attended the University of Southern California and
studied with composer Donald Crockett. He received his doctoral
degree in composition from Northwestern University. His teachers
include M. William Karlins, Marta Ptaszynska, Amnon Wolman,
Michael Pisaro and Stephen Syverud.
He has received the Michael Mason Scholarship, the NSCO Composers
Award, the William T. Faricy Composition Award, the Yoshiro
Irino Prize and the Composers Guild Award. His composition has
been performed in Italy, Japan, Poland, Thailand, and the United
States.
Currently he is a composition faculty at the Conservatory of
Music, Rangsit University, Thailand.
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8 Aug 08
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