[Tlc] TL-request/help/music

[justinm at ucr.edu]

Dear All,

This request was forwarded to me from Dr. Chhany Sak-Humphry.

Any help would be great!

Thanks,
justin

>I am writing because an elder Lao/Thai Lam Leung master, Souphine 
>Phatsongneune, has just been selected to receive the 
>Vermont  Heritage Artist Governor's Award for 2009. Because he was a 
>participant in my doctoral research and because I nominated him for 
>the award, I have been asked to introduce him at the 
>event.  Souphine was born in Song Neune, Thailand in the late 1920s 
>and moved to Laos as a young man where he became nationally 
>recognized as a traditional folk singer, Lam Leung director, 
>performer and writer. His troupe in Laos was called Sau. Siang 
>Pin.  Many people have told me that he was so popular that he was 
>considered  the equivalent of Elvis Presley in Laos. During the war, 
>he was hired by the USIS to work as a /lam patana/ singer in the 
>rural areas of Southern Laos.  He escaped from his home in Paxhe, in 
>1974 and continued to train singers in   Thailand and Ubon camp 
>before coming the the US  in 1979. Since living in Vermont, he 
>received funding from the Vermont Arts Council to create one Lao 
>Opera that was performed in VT in 2004 and he has continued to write 
>several songs, some of which I have recordings and copies of. He has 
>already received 3 Vermont Folklife Heritage Apprenticeship Awards 
>which were awarded to him  to pass his singing tradition on to the 
>Lao Community in Brattleboro, VT. He also worked with a troupe in 
>Rhode Island and wrote an opera for them which they performed in the 
>1990s and which was the basis of a doctoral dissertation by Jean Bernard.
>I will be introducing Souphine (stage name Banana: Ajaan Guay) at a 
>ceremony at the Vermont State House on May 13. I would like to ask a favor.
>
>Would it be possible for you to spread the word to Lao people in 
>your circle of colleagues and friends,who might  have heard of his 
>work or even worked with him in Laos? Because he was extremely 
>popular as a singer (particularly in rural areas) there,  I would 
>like to find Laotians in the US who worked with him and can attest 
>to the contributions he may have made to them as singers or musicians.
>
>This is the first time that a Southeast Asian has received this 
>award in Vermont. Because there are so few Laotians living here, 
>they are somewhat invisible to the rest of the state. I would like 
>to be able speak to the Governor here about the national 
>significance of Vermont choosing to give this award to him. Only one 
>artist from the state is chosen each year, so it is quite an honor. 
>It would also be great to have a short note from NAFEA that I could 
>read in my introductory remarks.
>I would also like to be able to put Souphine in touch with anyone 
>who might have known him well. He is in his eighties now adn ahs 
>already had throat cancer.
>I've written to Phitsamay and LANA and the Lao Heritage Foundation 
>to ask for statements.  I  have statements from two American 
>scholars of this art form (Terry Miller and Jean Barnard) ,My 
>e-mails to the Lao Heritage Foundation bounce back so if anyone 
>knows a direct way to get in contact with them, that would be very helpful!
>Hope all is well with everyone.
>
>Thanks so much,
>Call me if you have questions.
>Leslie  802 387-5694 (home)

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
3046 INTN
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu