Cambodian Living Arts Festival

A virtual festival featuring a world premiere from Sandbox Percussion and composer Vivian Fung

On December 12-20, 2020, Cambodian Living Arts and ArtsEmerson staged a two-week series of performances, talks, and performance screenings inspired by Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia, the groundbreaking production by renowned composer Him Sophy and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Rithy Panh.

On the Program

The Making of a Masterpiece: The Creative Process

• Rithy Panh, Bangsokol director

• Him Sophy, Bangsokol composer

• Gideon Obarzanek, Bangsokol stage director

• Gwyneth Bravo, moderator, NYU Abu Dhabi

Discussion: Requiem as a Musical Form in the Context of Cambodia

• Him Sophy, Bangsokol composer

• Trent Walker, Bangsokol librettist

• Andrew Cyr, Bangsokol conductor

• Elena Park, moderator, MET Opera and Kennedy Center

Audience Experiences of Bangsokol from Around the World

• Ada Khun, Seda Douglas, Emily Howe and Chea Sopheap, Bangsokol audience members

• Amara Goel, moderator, Cambodian-American vocalist

Performing Arts Panel: Creative Collaboration Among Unlikely Partners

• Johnny Ku, Taipei Philharmonic Foundation

• Joseph Melillo, Brooklyn Academy of Music

• Phloeun Prim, Cambodian Living Arts

• Stephen Armstrong, Melbourne Festival

• Tisa Ho, moderator, Hong Kong Arts Festival

Performing Arts Panel: Dealing with the Impact of a Global Crisis

• David Howse, ArtsEmerson

• Emmanuel Hondré, Philharmonie de Paris

• Wen Pin Chien, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts

• Bill Bragin, moderator, NYU Arts Center

Performance: Variations on Bangsokol and Ritual

• Metropolis Ensemble (with Sandbox Percussion) composer Vivian Fung (USA)

• Taipei Philharmonic (Taiwan)

• Yong Siew Toh Conservatory (Singapore)

• Yuko Tomonaga (Australia) and Krom Dontrey Bangsokol (Cambodia)

• Chumvan “Belle” Sodhachivy (Cambodia)

Discussion: Art, Healing and Hope: Creative Resilience

• Vivian Fung, composer (Canada)

• Chumvan “Belle” Sodhachivy, dancer (Cambodia)

• David Loke, composer and performer (Singapore)

• Carol Becker, moderator, Columbia University School of the Arts

Discussion: Writing the Next Chapter

• Phloeun Prim, Cambodian Living Arts

• Susan Chinsen, ArtsEmerson

• Chumvan “Belle” Sodhachivy, dancer

• Jean-Baptiste Phou, moderator, Cambodian Living Arts

About the Project

In response to the global pandemic, traumas, conflicts, and challenges of 2020, Cambodian Living Arts and ArtsEmerson brought together a global community of artists for a two-week series exploring the arts, healing, hope, and resilience. The project was inspired by Bangsokol, a Cambodian Living Arts commissioned, multidisciplinary theatrical work — fusing film, music, and traditional dance and musical arts — to address the traumas of Khmer Rouge, the Cambodian genocide in the 1970s.

These online performances, talks, and film screenings featured a global roster of artists and leading cultural organizations as they revisited the making of the production and reflect on what this work and this project has meant to them. The festival will link the themes and experiences of this unique production into the contemporary context.

The festival culminates with world premiere music and dance performances commissioned exclusively for the festival, including "(Un)Wandering Souls" from composer Vivian Fung with Sandbox Percussion, produced by Metropolis Ensemble.