Electric & Acoustic Cellist, Vocalist and Composer
CURRENT PROJECTS
Asian Elephant Project | Poetry Concerts and Workshops | Being with Dying Workshops
THE ASIAN ELEPHANT PROJECT
On January 16th, I had my second recording session with the elephants. Even though I now question the whole concept of elephants playing music on instruments that we humans make for them, I remembered the experience that I had with this group of elephants last February. I wanted to reconnect with them over a sound that might be familiar to them. I am still not sure if all of the elephants really enjoy the process of making music, or are in it just for the reward of food or to please their mahout.
I do get a clear feeling that Phong (the 4-year-old male) and Prathida (the 7-year-old female) enjoy what they do on their instruments. After playing with the elephants in the morning, I asked a couple of humans from the Mahout String Band, to record a northern Thai folk tune with me. One of the players is a bamboo flute player and the other a singer. Phong, Prathida and I were doing an introduction to the song and the flute player was standing close to Phong. After a few takes, Phong, took the end of his trunk and covered one of his tubes on his xylophone and started to blow! It was hysterical! He had never done that before and clearly it was because of this bamboo flute player who was standing close and inadvertently showing him something else he might do with his instrument. Once again, Phong shows us deeper understanding.
I was given one other wonderful opportunity to play with Phong. It was a special performance that was set up for the Princess, the King's older sister. It was quite an honor to have her come and visit the Center. She is a supporter and has adopted two of the elephants.The whole event was quite spectacular, with a tremendous amount of energy put into preparation. Buildings were built for tea with the Princess, landscaping was brought in, brick floors put down, bamboo runners laid on pathways for the Princess, and everything was dusted and vacuumed again and again. As the Princess entered the performance grounds, the recorded material from my last session with the elephants was playing over the sound system. What a trip to have my cello welcoming in the Princess. A group of eight children were brought in to sing a Thai folk song and then a Japanese folk song about elephants. I played along and then had a solo section with Phong. I was honored to be invited to play at such an event: my first royal performance!
After the performance with Phong and the children, the Princess was whisked away for tea at the Royal Elephant Grounds. As I mentioned earlier, they had built a teahouse and a special stage for the string band to perform while she lunched. I was kidnapped and pushed to sit in with the Mahout String Band. It was a lovely compliment, but I didn't know most of the music, and for anyone who has listened to Thai folk music, the musicians follow a strict melody line which is very difficult to follow on the fly, because it doesn't have the structure that my Western self is used to. I winged it though, and tried to play as quietly as possible. Usually by the time I had figured it out, the song was over. I heard through a friend of a friend that I appeared later that night on TV in Chang Mai. That is my second time on TV here in this country. Perhaps it will help my chances in the U.S.?
So, my overall experience here has been incredible. I am so happy to be here, and I thank you all for your support in my getting here. I will try to put more into words about my experiences soon. I just wanted to let you know I am well and the elephants are guiding me through this complicated process. What is happening to them has happened and is happening to other elephants as well. Let me bear witness to their beauty. Let me bear witness to their patience. Let me bear witness to their strength and their history. They have entered my soul and their rumble will be heard through the stories I tell and the life I live.