Perhaps a series of concerts by the Monaco Boys Choir is one of the more unlikely tours coming through Vietnam and Cambodia this month, but it’s part of a greater mission to expand a particular section of the cultural sector in this part of the world. LengPleng sat down rather early one Saturday to chat to the organiser of the tour, Father Will Conquer, to discuss the beauty and inspiration of music, and the challenges of developing choirs in Southeast Asia.
“If music be the food of love play on, as Shakespeare would say,” says Father Will. “It’s beautiful in itself. So the first priority is to offer a beautiful programme. Cambodia has only a limited market for fine music, but like everywhere else people are interested in experiencing beauty. So the idea is not just to have a one-off tour of a choir from my hometown, Monaco: we want to reach out, to nurture the cultural niche of fine music in this country. Next February we will have a visiting orchestra, and in 2027 we want Cambodia to participate in a big international choir competition.
“There currently are very few choirs in Cambodia, and they are mostly made up of foreigners. So the idea is to try to connect and encourage – since advertising this upcoming concert I’ve had three different groups asking me to help them set up a choir, which is great. I’m not a great choir guy, I sing very specific Gregorian chants, a niche of a niche. Even in Vietnam, where there’s many Christians, it’s very rare to find people who can sing proper Gregorian chant.
“Above all, this is an attempt to continue to encourage a culture of excellence in music. Already in Cambodia we have the concert programmes of Anton Isselhadt – really high quality music – and the work of Ross Clarke, everything he did was absolutely excellent. In Vietnam there’s a very vivid Catholic culture, so people are familiar with polyphonic singing – a lot of solos, ten year old kids singing in Latin, German, English, Italian. I hope one day in Cambodia we’ll have a children’s choir of that level; at the moment there are no stable children’s choirs in Cambodia. Various churches have children singing, a few have a constituted choir that would be able to perform.”
The tour is seeking also to connect the European with Cambodian cultures. “All of our performances pair the choir with Cambodian performances. In Siem Reap the sacred dancers of Angkor Wat will be performing a beautiful homage, a mix of royal dance and Gregorian chant, which is going to be quite something. In Sihanoukville we will feature students from my own music school – I have one there and one in Kampong Cham – that’s going to be more popular, at the level of local kids. And then in Phnom Penh we’re going to team up with the Princess Buppha Devi Dance School, and they’re going to do a beautiful dance also. So we’re very excited about that.”
The history of the choir reveals a possible link to Cambodia, Father Will explains. “The Monaco Boys Choir was created at the beginning of the 20th Century by Louis-Lazere Perruchot, who has the same surname of the Perruchot who co-wrote the Cambodian national anthem, so they’re probably related. The choir was re-established in 1974 with the support of Prince Rainier of Monaco to become a cultural embassy for the country, which is known mostly for its casinos. These days a lot of great singers are very proud to come and perform in our country, and I wish the same for Cambodia. Cambodia is Monaco in 1870: proud of its architectural heritage, but also the contemporary cultural scene.
“The Monaco Boys Choir are the treasure of my nation, they sing every weekend and take part in all major celebrations. Bringing them to Cambodia is taking a risk, because of the image of Cambodia – people think you get kidnapped on the streets of Sihanoukville – and I want to show that Cambodia is safe for artists, and a nice place to perform, with beautiful audiences. And also beautiful venues – places of the like of Sofitel Phnom Penh, Sofitel Angkor and the Novotel Sihanoukville are very hard to get in other countries. I’m very grateful for the generous support of the Accor Hotel Group that are providing those venues. In Vietnam we’re performing in churches, because the acoustic are better, but there is no air-conditioning. The kids are enjoying their time, it’s a treat for them to go on this trip.”
The concerts in Siem Reap and Sihanoukville are free, but for the Phnom Penh concert tickets are priced at $30, with all funds going to Kantha Bopha Hospital (where a special concert for sick children will also be held during the brief visit). “Especially in Cambodia, I believe if you don’t put a price tag something on people will think that it has no value. But if you are a great music lover and you can’t pay $30, some free tickets are available for the public. A lot of tickets are being given to schools also.”
Find the Monaco Boys Choir in Siem Reap on Saturday 19, in Sihanoukville on Monday 21, and in Phnom Penh on Wednesday 23.
