Musician Him Savy will have the rare opportunity of performing as a soloist with a full-fledged classical orchestra from overseas next month in Phnom Penh.
A Western, classical-music flutist, Ms Savy will perform Karl Stamitz’s Flute Concerto in G-major, Op 29, with the Wuerttemberg Chamber Orchestra during a concert given by the German ensemble on Oct 12.
“I can say that I feel both happy and nervous about this,” said Ms Savy, who teaches at the Secondary School of Fine Arts, and has played several times alongside foreign musicians, but not an orchestra.
“I feel fortunate to get this great opportunity,” she said.
For the concert, four other leading Cambodian musicians will join the 20 German musicians: violinists Chhun Sopha and Uy Tach, viola player El Leang and cellist Sim Ratha.
This will be the first visit of the orchestra to Cambodia, said conductor Ruben Gazarian in videoconference from Germany on Wednesday.
“Cambodia is a country in which the orchestra has never been…. So Cambodia will be a real discovery for us…and a musical discovery,” he said. “We are very curious about this country.”
The visit, organized with the help of German flutist Anton Isselhardt of the Art+Foundation in Phnom Penh, came about when German Ambassador Wolfgang Moser heard the orchestra play during a vacation in Europe. Mr Moser thought of inviting the musicians to play in Cambodia and, while in Berlin, managed to obtain funding from the German government to pay for the visit, he explained at a press conference.
The orchestra will also play in South Korea prior to coming to Phnom Penh and in Indonesia afterward. Mr Isselhardt will conduct the flute concerto at Ms Savy’s request, and Mr Gazarian the rest of the program.
