HIM Sophy is a Khmer Rouge survivor who became Cambodia's most educated composer, with 14 years of study and a Ph. D degree from the Tchaikovsky Conservatorium in Moscow. He combines Western Classical Music with traditional Khmer as well as Rock and Roll (going back to Cambodia's roaring sixties). His acclaimed Where Elephants Weep: a Cambodian Rock Opera that was performed in Lowell, Massachusetts in 2007 and in Phnom Penh in 2008 was “a rock opera that wouldn’t look out of place in London’s West End or New York’s Broadway. It could mark the rebirth of Cambodian theatre.” (Guy Delauney, BBC World News).
Him Sophy’s Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia (2017) is the first major symphonic work that addresses the traumas of the late 1970s in Cambodia and was performed in Melbourne, New York, Boston, Paris, and Phnom Penh. “ [Him Sophy] in this remarkable composition succeeded in very poignantly giving expression for our common grief and an equally shared longing for reconciliation and peace” (Dr. Kjell Skyllstad, Professor Emeritus, University of Oslo).
HIM Sophy philosophy has always been that to compose beautiful music, you have set yourself a goal about what you want to achieve with the music. Khmer music was traditionally used for the royal court, praying (for instance to persuade the spirits to heal people) and weddings. Western classical music mostly expresses the views and emotions of the composer or a person for whom the piece has composed for. In these two types of music, HIM Sophy has been inspired by the genre spiritual (Araks) and wedding music (which originated from Araks). As for Western music, he has been inspired by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, Debussy, Ravel, Tschaikovsky and Schnietke.
Since his return from Moscow, HIM Sophy has been living in Phnom Penh, where he has been aiming at establishing his own style, often giving body to his traumatic Khmer Rouges experience and expressing hope and humanity for a good future. Additionally he spends considerable time teaching young and older students to play the piano at his HIM Sophy School of Music.