In the Homegrown Plus series, we present concert recordings from the Homegrown Concert Series that also had accompanying oral history interviews, placing both together in an easy-to-find blog post (find the whole series here). The series continues with this post, which highlights a recent Homegrown concert and oral history with the Somapa Thai Dance Company and Orchestra.
On May 23, 2024, the Somapa Thai Dance Company and Orchestra visited the Library of Congress to perform as part of the American Folklife Center’s Homegrown Concert Series and in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The group—ambassadors for Thai culture in the Mid-Atlantic—is led by Suteera Nagavajara, a singer, dancer, and musician who hails from Bangkok, Thailand, but who now lives outside Washington, DC. For this performance, the group was also joined by musician Vorayot Suksaichon–a master-musician, educator, and arranger from Thailand. The group’s concert, which you can see below, was a mix of traditional songs and new arrangements of folk melodies and rhythms. At the bottom of this post, you can find the names and information about each song Somapa performed.
Before the concert, I spoke with Suteera Nagavajara and Vorayot Suksaichon about the origins of the Somapa Thai Dance Company and Orchestra, and about Suksaichon’s musical career. Anant Nakong, an ethnomusicologist who teaches at Silpakorn University (Thailand), joined the conversation, assisting with translation and interpretation. You can find the oral history interview below.
Somapa’s performance brought a range of visitors to the Library of Congress. Chuliepote Isarankura Na Ayudhaya, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim at the Royal Thai Embassy in Washington, D.C., gave opening remarks for the performance. The dignitary also presented Suteera Nagavajara and Vorayot Suksaichon with flowers at the end of the performance. Pinitkarn Tulachom, a journalist working at the Voice of America Thailand, also attended the concert. Tulachom produced a news report on the concert, which you can see at this link, featuring footage from the performance and interviews with audience members. Kit Young, a pianist and composer, wrote, in a post-concert reflection, “Somapa Thai Dance Company and Orchestra’s performance and ability to engage American and Thai listeners at the Coolidge Auditorium more than fulfilled the multi-dimensional role of musicians and dancers to ensoul our collective outer experience with their inner artistic engagement with each other.” Family members, former students, and fans of Somapa’s members were also in attendance.
We congratulate the Somapa Thai Dance Company and Orchestra for a fantastic performance! To keep up with the group, visit their website.
Songs and Descriptions
To accompany their performance, members of the Somapa Thai Dance Company and Orchestra created a program for attendees. Find a selection of notes from the program below, detailing each song of their concert. Time stamps, indicating when a song begins in the concert webcast, can be found next to each song name.
1. “Lamtaad Dontri”: [0:00] We are welcoming listeners with a cheerful and upbeat greeting song. Master Boonyong Kethkong composed the melody for the folk musical “” Master Vorayot Suksaichon re-arranged the song for this performance.
2. “Bart Sakuni” and “Rua La Dio”: [3:30] These songs are about the journey of Lord Vishnu flying through the sky on the back of Garuda. They are sacred songs used in rituals for worshiping the gods and performing court dances when high-ranking deities appear. This performance uses a string orchestra, which is different from the general “Bart Sakuni” song commonly performed by a Piphat (percussion-based) orchestra. The song’s distinctions are due to Master Suksaichon. He carefully analyzed the song and created a more complex and detailed version, which cannot be done with the Piphat orchestra.
3. “Kraw Nai” [8:58] is a showcase of Thai solo music This repertoire is ritualistic in the Piphat musical tradition. There is a special melody called “Yon” (literally means swing around the tonic note), in which skilled musicians improvise to create a special, exciting melody. It is comparable to a ‘cadenza’ – a time to show off the skills of a soloist in western art music. For this performance, Master Suksaichon will play Saw Duang (a high-pitched fiddle) while interacting with the Piphat orchestra. In so doing, he will put the ‘Yon’ melody into the structure of the song.
4. “Khamwaan”: [20:31] The name of the song means “sweet words” in the Thai language. It is a lullaby, found in ancient court music culture. This performance will highlight the melodious sounds of Saw Samsai (three-stringed spike fiddle). The instrument is played to sound like Thai court singing.
5. “Kiew Khao”: [24:24] This is a folk song of agricultural societies in central Thailand. The song is a celebration of farmers after completing their rice harvesting.
6. “Wessukam” and “Sorraphanya”: [27:02] The roots of Thai music are closely related to Buddhism. The songs reflect the reverence for the Buddha, who has guided humankind towards the state of nirvana. The song’s special features include Master Suksaichon’s use of a 5-syllable drum rhythm, which hasn’t been used in Thai classical music before, and the less commonly used 3-syllable drum rhythm. The vocal harmony is created by Athita Kuankachorn, a Maryland-based Thai composer.
7. “Nangnak” and “Kookpart”: [31:36] This new dance, choreographed by Suteera Nagavajara, conveys the traditional Thai belief in a mythical Naga or a sacred serpent. Naga is prominent in many forms of Thai arts and rituals. The dance expresses a Naga being intertwined with people’s social and religious ceremonies. These ceremonies reflect the spirit and morale of Thai society. The dancers hold a beautifully shaped ornament called “Baisri” (auspicious rice, a symbol of life) to convey prosperity and goodness.
8. “Phamahay”: [36:34] This is a set of Thai songs with a Burmese influence used for community entertainment. This song has short, catchy musical passages, and exciting rhythms.
9. “Fon Muang”: [43:09] This song combines musical styles from the Mon people and the Lanna culture of Northern Thailand.
10. “Khaeksarai”: [46:36] Thai classical music experienced a kind of renaissance after the Second World War after having been neglected by the wartime government that favored Western-inspired music. The song is based on a popular classical tune, but it is the text that has captured the imagination of the Thai public for more than half a century. The lyrics were written by Thanom Nagavajara (Suteera Nagavajara’s grandfather). They describe the quality of Thai classical music, which, according to the elder Nagavajara, are second to none. The song is well known in the Thai musical world. Professionals and school children often memorize and sing the song.
11. “Laophan Noi”: [52:45] This is a happy folk song from northeastern Thailand featuring a Ranad Ek xylophone duet playing harmoniously with the orchestra. The song is performed as if the two Ranad Eks are having a conversation.
12. “On Rak”: [55:46] The song describes the romance of a young couple under the moon and the stars. It is a new piece written and choreographed by Dr. Suteesak Pakdeeteva. The song combines Thai classical dance with western dance movement influence and patterns. The song is also sung in a western style with Thai classical music influences.
13. “Yawa”: [59:35] This is a song of memories from a 1908 trip to Java taken by Thai music master Luang Praditphairoh (Sorn Silpabanleng). From a simple theme, the composer gradually adds details and colors to the notes in various passages, resulting in complex heterophony.
14. “Nok Sai Bin Kam Tung (Sai bird flying across the field)”: [1:09:06] This is a folk song from the Northeastern region of Thailand (also known as Isarn). The region shares cultural and language characteristics with neighboring Laos. The song’s name “Sai bird (a type of a woodpecker) flying across the field” creates a vision of the countryside, where nature and life are interconnected in agrarian Thai society. In this version, you can hear Isarn instruments such as a “pin” or Isarn lute, which is played like a guitar.
Collection Connections
Research Guides
- Thai-Related Collections at the American Folklife Center
- Asian American and Pacific Islander Culture Collections at the American Folklife Center
- Laos-Related Collections at the American Folklife Center
Folklife Today Posts
Comments (3)
An appealing story and wonderful upbeat photos! Much appreciated. Carl
Thanks, as always, for reading, Carl!
And thanks from me too, for the compliment on the photos…I’m no Carl Fleischhauer, but I get a decent shot now and again!