To mark the first anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, 2011, Cambodian and Japanese artists will on Saturday evening host “Cambodia for Japan,” a benefit piano concert in Phnom Penh to help children who lost their parents in the disaster.
Concert pianist Julian Lawrence Gargiulo will perform accompanied by Cambodian-Japanese clarinetist Bonsamnang Ikeda.
Mr. Gargiulo, who is based in New York, where he recently played at Carnegie Hall, agreed to give the concert as an extension of the fundraising work he has done for several years through his own NGO 16000children.org.
That number refers to the fact that “16,000 children die of hunger every day in the world,” Mr. Gargiulo said in an interview on Thursday.
The benefit concert is being hosted by Cambodian pianist So Srornos and Japanese pianist Yumiko Anna Ono, a personal friend of Mr. Gargiulo, whose idea it was to enlist the New York-based pianist in the project.
In addition to being for a good cause, the concert is meant to be truly special for people attending, said Ms. Ono, which is why she contacted Mr. Gargiulo.
“His style of performing is really unique, not the typical concert pianist. He likes to add humor to his magnificent talent…. I wanted to incorporate helping the children and also add some kind of pizzazz to classical music in Phnom Penh,” she said.
Described by a European critic as having the “incisive touch of the great virtuoso” and by an American critic as being both “fascinating and fun,” Mr. Gargiulo, who is Italian-American, is known to hold what he calls “piano conversation” with his audience.
“I start talking to people and they seem to relax, to enjoy themselves a little more,” he said. His goal for Saturday’s concert, he added, “is to break down the barrier that sometimes you get at a classical concert, where the only response of the audience is to applaud—which I’m all for, by the way.”
Mr. Srornos, who manages the Srornos Music School in Phnom Penh, did his Master’s degree in Japan in the mid-2000s. “It changed my life,” he said. “Japan gave me so much: Now, I want to help.”
Mr. Srornos, who has held charity concerts for Cambodian orphans in the past, wanted this year’s event to focus on the Japanese children who lost their family in last year’s disaster, he said.
According to current data, “1,300 children lost one of their parents and 240 children lost both parents,” said Yoshi Abe, second secretary to the Japanese Embassy, which is supporting the event along with several artists and sponsors.
Proceeds from the concert will go to the Ashinaga Foundation, which is known for the quality of support they provide to the tsunami orphans, said Ms. Ono, who lives in Phnom Penh.
Mr. Gargiulo has performed at the Moscow Conservatory Hall and the Seymour Theater Center in Sydney. He will also be playing in Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong and London following his charity concert in Phnom Penh.
The concert starts at 6 p.m. For information, call 089-472-955 or 016-892-377.
