HIM Sophy
From survivor to composer.
Born in Prey Veng Province, Cambodia in 1963. in 1975 HIM Sophy and family was forced away by Khmer Rouge from Phnom Penh and went back to his village in Prey Veng province. After the Khmer Rouge, he studied at Tschaikovsky Conservatorium Moscow from 1986, where he received a Ph. D. degree in musicology in 1998. Upon his return in Phnom Penh in 1998, he continued integrating Western Classical Music with Traditional Khmer Music as well as Rock and Roll for films, theatre. musicals and dance, including his Bangsokal: A Requiem for Cambodia.
8 August:Piano Books and Website Launching
On 8 August 2024, HIM Sophy will launch his first piano book for beginning and slightly advanced piano students. This book that is available in an English and Khmer version with illustrations by Him Chanphissara has already been praised as a unique piece of work. It is the first of it kind as the compilation offers piano students the opportunity to play relatively simple Cambodian music. During the launching that will take place in the concert hall of Him Sophy School of Music, a few of students will show the pleasure that four out of the twenty short pieces of music will bring to the listeners' ear, and the joy to the piano player.
On the same day, HIM Sophy will also introduce his current website, that provides a comprehensive overview of a very special composer's oeuvre and different phases of his life.
Program 8August
| 16.00 – 16.10 |
Welcome by dr. Him Sophy |
| 16.10 – 16.40 |
4 Students playing from the Cambodian Piano Pieces |
| 16.40 - 16.50 |
Introduction to the Website |
| 16.50 – 17.00 |
HSO Ensemble plays HIM Sophy’s (i) Mondulkiri Landscape (for flute and cello), (ii) This is the Place I want to Stay from Where Elephants Weep Opera) and (iii) Why we learn Music ( a children’s song ) |
| 17.00 – 17.30 |
Drinks and snacks |
Press Reviews
His Where Elephants Weep: a Cambodian Rock Opera (2007) was praised as "a rock opera that would not look out of place in London’s West End or New York’s Broadway" (Guy Delauney, BBC World News). His Bangsokol: a Requiem for Cambodia " very poignantly [gives] expression for our common grief and an equally shared longing for reconciliation and peace” (Dr. Kjell Skyllstad, Professor Emeritus, University of Oslo).
Click here to see Him Sophy's work
HIM Sophy playing Sin Sisamoth's The Boat of Life
For more info on HIM Sophy see: https://himsophy.com
The Gate Will Shut, from Where Elephants Weep: a Cambodian Rock Opera, sung by Diane de Boer - Phelan (as Bopha), Music by Him Sophy; Libretto by Catherine Filloux; Director: Robert McQueen and Producer: John Burt