Khon: Thai Masked Dance and Music

To strengthen the excellent relationship between the U.S. and Thailand, and in celebration of the 190th anniversary of Thailand-U.S. diplomatic relations in 2023, a group of 18 musicians from the Thai Music Division of the Fine Arts Department, Bangkok, Thailand, is going to visit the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) to present a Thai music workshop for students and faculty and a concert performance at Schoenberg Hall. The primary aspiration of this trip is to promote and share Thai national performing arts. The students, faculty, and community members will have an opportunity to participate in a special workshop conducted by a group of royal musicians from Thailand and, later, will be able to encounter and participate in a performance of khon (masked dance drama) and musical repertoire from the four regions of Thailand performed by leading professionals at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. Students from the Music of Thailand Ensemble classes will be part of the performance. The staged performance will be live-streamed and recorded for educational purposes and will be made accessible online in the future.