Shannon Sadler spent summer 2017 teaching and exploring music in Bangkok, Thailand.
Sadler was in Thailand for three weeks. They were hot, humid, and wonderful, she said.
Sadler is a professor of music at St. Cloud State University.
She was on the artist faculty of the Nirmita Composers Workshop held at Silpakorn University in July in Bangkok where she performed new works by the composition artistic faculty and coached students in how to develop their compositional skills in writing music for piano.
The students came from six different Southeast Asian countries including: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam.
The workshop and summer music festival is a concept founded and developed by Artistic Director Chinary Ung. The students involved in the workshop taught Sadler that it is great to be courageous and bold, as well as to take risks in efforts to share one’s story through music, she said.
One student in particular is writing several compositions communicating what he has experienced as part of political breakdowns in the Philippines where the government has endorsed and supported assassinations of people suspected of being involved in the drug trade without fair trials, she said.
Sadler has worked with Ung since 1995 and admires how he embodies the importance of staying true to one’s passion and creative vision in both his work and his life. He also keeps an emphasis on the importance of loyalty.
“One must stay true to those who support each of us in the pursuit of our passions and creative visions”, she said.
Ung is raising funds for the Nirmita Composers Workshop and Festival. This workshop promotes young Southeast Asian musicians, particularly composer’s, talent. Students who participate in the workshop and festival are personally selected by Ung and often come from modest financial backgrounds.
The students are not asked to pay any tuition, housing or travel expenses. All expenses are covered by means donations, grants or by Ung himself. Many of the participating musicians and partnering institutions donate their time, facilities and resources in order to make the educational workshop happen.
