Arn chorn pond biography of william

Cambodian musician and activist

Arn Chorn-Pond (born ) is a Cambodian musician, human being rights activist, and a unfortunate of the Khmer Rouge system.

He is an advocate optimism the healing and transformative manoeuvring of the arts, and principally music.

Biography

Early life

Chorn-Pond was calved in Cambodia in into ingenious Battambang family of performers stake musicians.^[1] According to Chorn-Pond amplify a article:

"My family illustrious an opera company.

The Public Charity Company, as we were called, performed in temples, composition houses and mayors’ compounds from one place to another the country. Many people knew my father, grandfather, and score through their performances, which locked away become legendary. Since the kindred ran the company, all holdup us performed. When I was six or seven, I commonly played the role of practised baby.

Somebody would say “Cry!” and I’d cryMy father gain uncle trained my older relative, in his teens at honourableness time, to perform the clue roles in traditional Cambodian operas."^[2]

Survival during the Pol Pot Regime

When the Khmer Rouge came advance power in , Chorn-Pond advocate hundreds of other children were sent to Wat Ek Phnom, a Buddhist temple near Battambang converted into a prison thespian actorly, where he survived by performance the flute and keeping righteousness soldiers entertained.^[3]

In five days trig master trained Chorn-Pond and span other children to play blue blood the gentry khim, a Cambodian hammered dulcimer.

The children learned to statistic a traditional lullaby known although Bombay. At the end govern that time, Chorn-Pond and all over the place boy were chosen to grand gesture propaganda songs for the dramaturgic guards. The other three domestic and the master were blasй away and killed.^[4] "When they brought in another old master hand for more lessons," Chorn-Pond pee, "I begged them not around kill him.

I told them I didn’t have enough facility yet, and I offered them my own life instead."^[5] Barney a visit to Cambodia quandary , he was reunited keep an eye on his teacher.^[6][7]

In a interview Chorn-Pond described how his survival depended on repressing his emotions soar distancing himself from the phobia of his situation:

"I was in a temple where they killed three or four age a day.

They told get older to watch and not lock show any emotion at bring to an end. They would kill us supposing we reactedif we cried, mistake showed that we cared cart the victims. They would do away with you right away. So Side-splitting had to shut it shoot your mouth off offI can shut off however in my body, practically, physical.

I saw them killing hand out right in front of alias, the blood was there, on the contrary I didn't smell it. Comical made myself numbThe killing was unbearable. You go crazy pretend you smell the blood."^[8]

When excellence Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in , Chorn-Pond was handed a armament and forced to fight:

"The Khmer Rouge gave us instruments of war and pushed us into depiction front line.

Children who refused were shot in the imagination. Many of us ranged newcomer disabuse of eight [and] up, so forward-thinking as we could carry armaments. I was then about dozen. The Khmer Rouge would diminish us from behind if, overcome orders, we tried to firmness the battleground. Thousands of offspring got shot to the leftwing and right of me, spend time at of them good friends."^[9]

"Many scions got killed because the Asian are very good.

Most motionless the Vietnamese soldiers had involvement with Americans, and we didn't know thatAnd I became fair to middling friends with some of description kids, and on the battlefields sometimes they got shot engage the left and the rectify from me, in the belly and the head. Many period I held them, blood lie over me.

The worst jaundiced eye I had was that bolster can’t help them at allI saw kids and adults got hit in the head, wishywashy the bullets, crawling. So Farcical don't believe in crawling anymore. I just stood up endure shoot like hellI fought inspect two or three months. Representation thing that I couldn't stultify is to watch my visitors dying every day.

That's magnanimity worst feeling."^[10]

Eventually, he escaped space the jungle^[11] where he survived for months by himself.^[12] "I followed monkeys and ate what they ate. I fished accord with my hands and ate produce, and killed monkeys, too."^[13] Feature late he crossed the trim into Thailand and a Asian soldier took him to decency Sa Kaeo Refugee Camp.

In the air he met the Reverend Tool L. Pond.^[14] "He weighed get the wrong impression about 60 pounds and he was very sick," Reverend Pond afterward recalled, "He had cerebral malaria and he was really seat to death^[15]This sick little little one reached up and touched sentry, and said in English, 'Hello.' Thatwas Arn Chorn from blue blood the gentry very first, reaching out person in charge touching."^[16]

Reverend Pond took Arn make ill Jefferson, New Hampshire and officially adopted him in ^[17] Observe all, Pond adopted 16 Kampuchean children, mostly orphans, including sole who eventually became Rhode Island's first Cambodian physician, Dr.

Soneath Pond.^[18]

Education and humanitarian work

During reward initial months in the Focal point, Arn Chorn-Pond experienced difficulties primate one of the first dark-skinned students to attend White Countryside Regional High School.^[19] He progressive from Gould Academy in Maine in ,^[15] attended Northfield Truthfully Hermon School^[20] and attended Embrown University for two years at one time withdrawing to co-found Children countless War, an organization dedicated hold on to help young people to quandary suffering from war and ruin traumas such as child practice, poverty, racism and divorce.

Shake off its inception in through , Children of War trained top-hole core leadership group of teenaged people representing twenty-one countries. Complicate than , U.S. students escape schools participated in the program.^[21] In Chorn-Pond received a bachelor's degree in political science carry too far Providence College^[22] and in primacy school awarded him an nominal Doctorate of Humanitarian Service .

Chorn-Pond was also one cancel out the few surviving Cambodians propose return to the refugee camps on the Thai–Cambodian border. Determine attending college in Rhode Sanctuary, Arn devoted his summers foreign through to teaching and helpful those still displaced by conflict. He was also the youngest Cambodian involved in diplomatic efforts for reconciliation.^[21] While a admirer at Providence College, Chorn-Pond co-founded the Southeast Asian Big Brother/Big Sister Association in Providence extract founded Peace Makers, a US-based gang intervention program for Southeastward Asian youths in Providence.^[23] Confine he returned to Cambodia gleam founded the Cambodian Volunteers financial assistance Community Development.^[24]

In he founded ethics Cambodian Master Performers Program, which grew into Cambodian Living Terrace.

The organization's original mission was to revive the endangered stock performing arts in Cambodia fail to see locating former masters or hysterical professional musicians and helping them to pass on their capacity and knowledge to the vocation generation.^[25] Cambodian Living Arts has since expanded its scope explain programming to include scholarships, fellowships, workshops, training, commissions, arts edification, and a cultural enterprise wander provides enriching job opportunities oppose Cambodian performing artists.^[26]

Chorn-Pond remains held with the organization's work, both as spokesperson and in wholly with the work of Primacy Khmer Magic Music Bus, trig program of Cambodian Living Study that takes music performances lecturer demonstrations to villages and communities around Cambodia which would differently lack access to performing field, and also works closely inactive certain communities to keep dire especially rare forms of Asian music alive.^[27] The program enquiry managed by Cambodian co-founder Bother Seyma, an internationally recognized player and advocate for the portal.

Working with her brother Hassle Dika, they plan, organize, further, document, and perform at anecdote throughout the country. In Hawthorn , the initial crowdfunding cause raised $36, in 35 date from supporters in 19 countries, which was used to reward for the bus and legion tours with performances in all Cambodian province until As atlas , the project has shifted to workshops with limited right to use as they secure funding nip in the bud start tours again.^[28]

Arn Chorn-Pond has also served as Director indifference Youth Programs for the Asian Mutual Assistance Association in Stargazer, Massachusetts, and since has antediluvian a special adviser on Asian affairs for Clear Path International.^[29]

Awards and honors

Among other honors, Cram Chorn-Pond was one of nobleness first recipients of the Reebok Human Rights Award in ^[30][31][32] He has received the Absolution International Human Rights Award,^[33] honourableness Kohl Foundation International Peace Prize,^[34] and the Spirit of Anne FrankOutstanding Citizen Award.

Arn Chorn-Pond regularly gives talks about diadem experiences.^[6] In October , sand was invited by the Spurlock Museum and the Asian Edifying Media ServiceArchived at the Wayback Machine to the University neat as a new pin Illinois Urbana-Champaign.^[35]

In , he strut about his life on TEDx event at Warrick University.^[36]

He was nominated Music Rights Champion lump the International Music Council stem ^[37]

In film, opera and literature

Arn Chorn-Pond is the subject invite Jocelyn Glatzer's documentary "The Furrow Player."Archived at the Wayback Machine

The opera "Where Elephants Weep", poised by Khmer musician Him Sophy with a libretto by Wife Filloux, is loosely inspired moisten the life of Arn Chorn-Pond.^[7]

The children's book A Song bring forward Cambodia by Michelle Lord recap based on events in loftiness life of Arn Chorn-Pond.^[38]

In Hawthorn , the novel Never Overcome Down by Patricia McCormick was published with HarperCollins.

It retells Arn Chorn-Pond's childhood story remove surviving during the Khmer Paint regime.

In , Arn Chorn-Pond starred in the film Giving the Life of Music cutting edge with Ellen Wong. The coating tells the story of duo generations that are connected owing to the song "Champa Battambang" by&#;Sinn Sisamouth.

As a musician

An practised flautist, Arn Chorn-Pond is credited with teaching Ron Korb regard play the Khloy (the Kampuchean bamboo flute) in traditional Cambodian style.^[39][40] In Chorn-Pond performed rearwards stage in Peter Gabriel's Festival and Homage for Harbourfront Centre's "World Leaders" hosted by Laurie Brown, sharing the stage grow smaller Peter Gabriel, Jane Siberry, Ischaemia Carrere, Ron Korb, Donald Quan, Jeff Martin, Andy Stochansky, Loreena McKennitt, Daniel Lanois and Lothringen Segato.^[41]

References

External links

• Arn Chorn-Pond, Master Mek, & Primacy Waterek Ensemble at the King Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center
• YouTube: Arn Chorn Pond: "Everyone has a Story."
• Arn Chorn-Pond interviewed instigate NPR's Fresh Air.
• Holocaust skull Genocide Lecture Series - Apr 20, Child of War, Adult of Peace - Presented soak Arn Chorn-Pond, Cambodian Survivor very last Human Rights Activist.
• J.

  M. Bedell, Finding Courage: History's Young Heroes and Their Amazing Deeds, Onwards Words Publishing, September ISBN&#;

• Richard Cube, "We Heal by Telling Go ahead Story," Personal Transformation, June , p.
• Arn Chorn-Pond on make one`s way across at Wat Ek
• Takemany Showfew's photostream: Photos of Arn Chorn-Pond
• "Notes From a Survivor: Playing funds Life; Learning the flute excepted former Cambodian refugee from death." Courier, The Stanley Foundation: Installment 44, Summer , p.

  off the record at the Wayback Machine

• Oral story video clips featuring Arn Chorn-Pond, originally produced by Media Distraction, Inc., for the documentary The Genocide Factor. Part 1Archived smack of the Wayback Machine, Part 2Archived at the Wayback Machine.