Bangkok--Oct 4--SET
The Dr. Sax Chamber Orchestra, a music group from Mahidol University’s Talent Education Research Project representing Thailand, won first place in the International Youth Chamber Music Competition (IYCC) 2005 in Switzerland. It was the first international win for a Thai chamber orchestra, and continues to be supported by SETTRADE .
Assoc. Prof. Sugree Charoensook Ph.D., Director of the College of Music and the Talent Education Research Project at Mahidol University, said that he was overjoyed that the Dr. Sax Chamber Orchestra, a group from Mahidol’s project, won first place at the International Youth Chamber Music Competition (IYCC) 2005 in Switzerland on Thursday, September 29, 2005. They beat 17 other orchestras from Austria, Switzerland, Russia, Germany, Mongolia, and Czech Republic.
“This success is really something to be proud of. The competition requires that there be no conductor, so the musicians had to manage their performances themselves whilst concentrating on the harmony of music. They had to play music from three periods: 1700-1830 A.D., 1830-1900 A.D., and the modern period. These young Thai musicians were praised by all in attendance. Audiences were impressed that Thai youth could play classical music well despite the fact that classical music hasn’t had much influence on the Thai way of life. Our team was also the only team from Asia. This is the first time we participated and got this far. Members of the Dr. Sax Chamber Orchestra are all very happy as it’s a reward for their hard work and dedication,” said Assoc. Prof. Sugree.
SETTRADE’s CEO, Ms. Chanisa Chutipat, who also went to Switzerland with the group, said, “SETTRADE has been supporting the Dr. Sax Chamber Orchestra since we co-hosted the ‘SETTRADE Youth Musical Challenge 2004’ with Mahidol University. We also organized several musical performances at the SET Building so that the students could gain more experience.
“The winning of this competition has proved that the dedication of Thailand’s youth to music can eventually lead to success. SETTRADE believes it’s crucial to support Thailand’s youth to help them exhibit their talents in appropriate ways. Our support should also be continuous. For that reason SETTRADE will continue to support Thai youth so that they can fully exhibit their talents and creativity to enable them to become good models for others,” said Ms. Chanisa.
The International Youth Chamber Music Competition (IYCC) 2005 was hosted by the Association pro-crescendo Cultural Management and Interlaken Tourism to help promote cultural exchanges via music competitions. This year’s competition took place on September 25-29, 2005.
This year is Thailand’s first participation in the IYCC. The Dr. Sax Chamber Orchestra was founded by Lecturer Poonsuk Kulabwong. The group’s initial members were all young music lovers. Later on they developed their own style more systematically into an orchestra and came under the supervision of Mahidol University’s Talent Education Research Project. The Project has Assoc. Prof. Sugree Charoensook Ph.D. as its director and Lecturer Prateep Supannaroj as its conductor.
The Dr. Sax Chamber Orchestra has already released five albums. The latest one is Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. They have performed at several social functions, including a VIP reception at the Government House, charity concerts and the Settrade Musical Moment Concert.
Presently, the Dr. Sax Chamber Orchestra has 22 members. These are all talented youth. Several of them participated in a music camp in Austria and others were winners at the SETTRADE Youth Musical Challenge. Two of the group—Smatya and Sreewan Wathawathana, known as ‘Pic & Preaw Footpath Family’, play Violoncello and Violin and recently released their own ‘Songs for life’ album. At the IYCC 2005, Preaw acted as a concertmaster, managing the group’s playing queue. End.