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By Catherine Louise Geach | Founder
Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for your wonderful support this year. Your help has contributed to us being able to provide for our Blind Students, nourishing meals, clothing, medical care, Braille materials, material and hygiene support, accommodation and support with our Music-Vocational Training and Therapy Program.
The Professional Recordings of our Blind Students of their Traditional Music Orchestra, "Vichak Santepheap" - The Path of Peace, are now ready.
Recorded from August to October 2023 by a professional sound engineer, The Music in this Album is Traditional Mohori Music, using beautiful, haunting and lyrical Solo Singing, with the evocative double-drum rhythm and then accompanied by the different Instruments of the Mohori Ensemble.
This Project was done in order to support our Blind Students as they make their gradual way to becoming independent professional Musicians. When our Students go into remoter areas or wherever they are called to give an official Performance, (remembering that Traditional Khmer Music is held as Sacred), they can then sell these little cards which contain a QR code. Those acquiring a card can then scan the QR code on their phone and gain access to not only the Recordings themselves, but a PDF of the names of the Songs in Khmer and English language, the Musicians and the names of their Instruments.
It is especially important that our Blind Students and Youth receive training and support to their full potential, rendering them not only autonomous, but restoring in them that sense of strength and dignity vital to every Human Being. Especially because in the remote villages where they were born, they were often humiliated and badly treated because they are blind.
Our Students were prepared by our Mohori Master Loak Kru Samouen*. Our Mohori Master, during the Khmer Rouge genocide was held prisoner by the Khmer Rouge and miraculously survived. It is thanks to his endurance and perseverance that our Students and indeed all those of our Children and former Students who are now professional Musicians, have learned Mohori Music to a very high level.
Traditional Music and Dance in Cambodia, dating back over one thousand years, was not written down, but handed down using the oral tradition from Master to pupil. When the Khmer Rouge executed or forcibly starved to death almost 90% of Cambodian Artists (1975-79), this caused almost irreversible damage to Cambodian Cultural Heritage. It is thanks to those such as Loak Kru Samouen who pieced together from their memories the near-destroyed Art-forms and restored them back to Life.
For those of you who have so very kindly and generously donated to our School in this last year, we will be sending by ordinary email from our School, the QR code to download so that you can listen to these Recordings for free.
We Thank you all with our Hearts for all your wonderful help.
Photographs: Kind Courtesy of Steve Porte with the permission of KCDI Staff and Students. Photographs show the Recording Session at our School in August 2023.
Location: Kampot Town, Kingdom of Cambodia
By Catherine Louise Geach | Founder
By Catherine Louise Geach | Founder
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